Yirglnia  Presbyterianism 
and  Religious  Liberty 

in  Goionial  and  Revolutionary 
Times 


BX  8947  .V8  J6 

Johnson,  Thomas  Gary,  1859- 

1936. 
Virginia  Presbyter lanism  ai 


Virginia  Presbyterianism 


Religious  Liberty 


IN 


Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Times 


By  THOS.  GARY  JOHNSON, 

Professor  of   Ecclesiastical  History  in   Union  Theological  Seminary, 

Richmond,  Va.;  author  of  "The  Life  and  Letters  of  Robert  Lewis 

Dabney,"     "The    Life    and    Letters    of    Benjamin    Morgan 

Palmer,"  '-John  Calvin  and  the  Genevan  Reformation," 

"  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States." 


RICHMOND,  Va. 

Presbyterian  Committee  of  Publication. 

1907 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Introduction. — Purpose  of  this  Booklet, 7 

CHAPTER  n. 

Condition  of  Dissenters  in  the  Colony  of  Vir- 
ginia, 1607-1688,  9 

CHAPTER  HI. 

Efforts  to  Secure  the  Application  of  the  Act 

OF  Toleration,  1689-1763,   15 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Progress   into   Religious   Liberty   During   the 

Revolutionary  Period,  1763  to  1791- 57 


PREFACE. 


Repeatedly  asked,  during  the  last  seven  months,  to 
produce  a  sketch  of  the  services  of  Presbyterians  during 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  days  to  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty,  this  little  book  is  the  writer's  response.  It  has 
been  his  steadfast  desire  to  claim  nothing  more  for  Pres- 
byterians than  was  warranted  by  objective  fact;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  limits  of  space  fixed  by  his  publishers, 
tc  acknowledge,  at  least  in  general  terms,  the  highly  im- 
portant services  of  other  forces. 

He  should  acknowledge  here  the  free  use  he  has  made, 
in  preparing  this  paper,  of  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia, 
Brigg's  American  Presbyterians,  Rives'  Life  and  Times 
of  Madison,  William  Wirt  Henry's  Life,  Correspondence, 
and  Speeches  of  Patrick  Henry,  etc.,  etc.  He  owes 
thanks,  also,  to  the  librarians  of  the  Virginia  State  Li- 
brary, who  kindly  and  courteously  gave  him  access  to  the 
rich  treasures  of  that  institution,  including  many  original 
manuscripts,  copies  of  which  were  verified  before  their 
incorporation  into  this  work. 

With  the  hope  that  it  may  conserve  the  interests  of 
truth,  he  sends  this  little  book  forth. 

Union  Theological  Seminary  in  Virginia, 
July  i8,  1907. 


Virginia    Presbyterianism   and 
Religious   Liberty. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introduction  :  Purpose  of  this  Booklet. 

THE  Virginia  doctrine  of  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State  has  long  prevailed  throughout  all  the 
vast  territory  of  these  United  States,  save  where  Mor- 
monism  has  fixed  its  unholy  seat.  The  old  mother  of 
States  and  statesmen  is  venerable  for  nothing  more  than- 
for  this  doctrine,  and  for  her  exemplification  of  it.  Too 
little,  however,  is  generally  known  as  to  how  Virginia 
came  to  hold  to  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and 
as  to  how  she  came  to  put  the  principle  into  application. 
No  attempt  shall  be  made  in  this  booklet  even  to  name 
all  the  forces  which  worked  together,  under  the  Provi- 
dence of  God,  to  these  ends.  Forces,  apparently  the  most 
hostile,  the  advocates  of  privilege  and  prerogative,  of  the 
establishment,  no  less  than  the  advocates  of  toleration  and 
liberty,  were  used  of  Providence  to  achieve  this  advance. 
The  positive  forces  working  for  it  were  numerous.  In- 
dividuals from  every  denomination  in  the  colony  helped 
in  the  great  struggle.  Quakers,  the  Baptists  particularly, 
and  other  denominations ,  as  well  as  Presbyterians,  took 
a  useful  part  in  the  struggle.  No  one  denomination  can 
justly  claim  to  have  been  the  sole  aggressive  agency  at  any 
one  time  in  the  long  contest.     Principles  which  constj- 


8  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

tilted  the  common  heritage  of  Protestants,  wrought  them- 
selves out  in  their  legitimate  fruitage  in  this  doctrine  of 
religious  liberty.  Civil  commotions  and  political  revolu- 
tion, by  the  opportunities  afforded,  favored  the  cause.  The 
Time-Ghost  of  the  America  colonies,  made  for  the  same 
thing. 

To  sketch  all  these  forces  would  require  much  space. 
In  this  brochure  an  attempt  is  made  to  indicate  some  of 
the  services  of  Presbyterians  in  behalf  of  religious  liberty, 
during  colonial  and  revolutionary  days. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Condition  of  Dissenters  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia, 
I 607- I 688. 

THE  early  colonists  of  Virginia  were,  in  the  main, 
conforming  Englishmen,  who  had  come,  not  for 
religious  reasons,  but  to  advance  their  temporal  fortunes. 
They,  naturally,  established  the  Church  of  England  by 
law.'  The  Church  of  England  of  the  period  was  not  a 
thorough-going  Episcopal  church  till  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity of  1662,  passed  by  the  Cavalier  Parliament  of 
Charles  II.,  which  required  thenceforth  that  all  its  minis- 
ters should  have  received  Episcopal  ordination.  The 
Puritan  party  was  strong  in  the  church.  The  mixed  char- 
acter of  the  Anglican  Church  was  reproduced  in  the  early 
colonial  church  in  Virginia. 

The  percentage  of  Puritans,  and  the  percentage  of 
Presbyterian  Puritans  amongst  the  colonists  in  this  period 
can  only  be  conjectured.  But  both  the  purpose  in  the 
founding  of  the  colony  and  the  character  of  the  Virginia 
Company  of  London,  composed  of  men,  some  of  whom 
were  amongst  the  most  remarkable .  of  their  age  for 
breadth  of  mind,  makes  for  the  view  that  it  was  not  incon- 
siderable. The  Rev.  Robert  Hunt,  the  pious  and  devoted 
minister  who  came  with  the  first  body  of  settlers,  may 
have  been  a  Puritan  ;  he  was  educated  at  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  a  Puritan  centre  at  the  time.  If  the  Puritan- 
ism of  Mr.  Hunt  is  incapable  of  proof,  the  same  cannot  be 
said  of  Alexander  Whitaker,  who,  in  the  language  of  a 
contemporary,  was  "a.  scholar,  graduate,  preacher,  well- 


10  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

born  and  friended  in  England;  not  in  debt  nor  disgrace, 
but  completely  provided  for,  and  liked  and  beloved  where 
he  lived;  not  in  want,  but  (for  a  scholar  and  as  these 
days  be)  rich  in  possession,  and  more  in  possibilities,  of 
himself  without  any  persuasion  (but  God's  and  his  own 
heart),  did  voluntarily  leave  his  warme  nest;  and,  to  the 
wonder  of  his  kindred  and  amazement  of  them  that  knew 
him,  undertook  this  hard,  but,  in  my  judgment,  heroicall 
resolution  to  go  to  Virginia,  and  helpe  to  bear  the  name 
of  God  unto  the  Gentiles."^  He  was  a  son  of  the  famous 
Dr.  William  Whitaker,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cam- 
bridge, England,  and  an  Independent  (Presbyterian) 
Puritan,  as  shown  in  the  literature  of  the  time.  He  writes, 
June,  1614: 

"  Every  Sabbath-day,  we  preach  in  the  forenoon  and  catechise 
in  the  afternoon.  Every  Saturday,  at  night,  I  exercise  in  Sir 
Thomas  Dale's  house.  Our  Church  affairs  be  consulted  on  by  the 
minister  and  four  of  the  most  religious  men.  Once  every  month 
we  have  a  communion,  and  once  a  year  we  have  a  solemn  fast." 
He  subsequently  wrote :  ''  Here  neither  surplice  nor  subscription 
is  spoken  of."^ 

Nansemond  County  seems  to  have  become  a  centre  of 
Puritanism  in  the  period  before  us.  Encouraged  by  the 
state  of  affairs  in  England  in  1641,  Puritan  congregations 
of  Nansemond  sent  to  New  England  for  ministers.  Three 
answered  the  call.    After  a  brief  ministry,  at  least  t\yo  of 

^  W.  Crashawe's  Epistle  Dedicatorie  to  the  Godnewes  from  Vir- 
ginia," quoted  in  F.  L.  Hawk's,  A  Narrative  of  Events  Connected 
zi'ith  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
Virginia,  p.  28. 

'  E.  D.  Neill,  Notes  on  the  Virginia  Colonial  Clergy,  Philadel- 
phia, 1877,  p.  4;  George  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  141,  quoted  in  C.  A.  Briggs,  American  Presbyterianism, 
p.  87. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  ii 

them  were  driven  out.  Puritanism  continued  to  grow, 
nevertheless,  till  the  bitter  measures  in  1649,  when  some 
of  the  Virginia  Puritans  migrated  to  Maryland,  others  to 
other  colonies,  some  going  to  New  England  f  and  others 
conformed,  for  the  time,  to  the  requirements  of  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  Established  Church  in  Virginia 
was  not,  at  first,  much  concerned  about  uniformity.  Large 
freedom  was  encouraged  by  the  Virginia  Company  of 
London.  When  its  charter  was  revoked,  in  1624,  and  the 
English  Government  took  immediate  oversight  of  the 
colony,  the  Government  showed  broad-mindedness  in  ref- 
erence to  religious  differences.  In  the  instructions  to  Sir 
William  Berkeley,  September  12,  1662,  we  read: 

"And  because  we  are  willing  to  give  all  possible  encouragement 
to  persons  of  dififerent  persuasions  in  matters  of  religion  to  trans- 
port themselves  thither  and  their  stocks,  you  are  not  to  suffer  any 
man  to  be  molested,  or  disquieted  in  the  exercise  of  his  religion, 
so  he  be  content  with  a  quiet  and  peaceful  enjoying  it,  not  giving 
therein  offence  or  scandal  to  the  government;  but  we  oblige  you 
in  your  own  house  and  family  to  the  profession  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  according  as  it  is  now  established  in  our  Kingdom  of 
England,  and  the  recommending  it  to  all  others  under  your  gov- 
ernment, as  far  as  it  may  consist  with  the  peace  and  quiet  of  our 
said  colony."  * 

These  instructions,  it  is  supposed,  represent  fairly  the 
attitude  of  the  English  Government  throughout  the  years 
now  considered.  But  the  majority  in  the  colonial  legisla- 
ture took  a  narrower  course.  In  the  year  1624,  the  House 
of  Burgesses  enacted  the  following  statute: 

"  That  there  be  an  uniformity  in  our  Church  as  neere  as  may 
be  to  the  canons  in  England ;  both  in  substance  and  circumstance, 


'  Cotton  Mather,  D.  D.,  Magnalia,  pp.  538,  539. 
'  E.  D,  Neill,  Virginia  Qarolorum,  p.  292, 


12  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

and  that  all  persons  yield  ready  obedience  unto  them  under  painc 
of  censure.'"* 


Similar  laws^,  but  in  somewhat  severer  form,  were 
passed  in  163 1  and  1632.^  But  no  great  rigor  of  perse- 
cution was  indulged  till  1642,  when  the  following  Act  of 
Uniformity  was  passed : 

"  For  the  preservation  of  the  purity  of  doctrine  and  unitie  of 
the  Church,  It  is  enacted  that  all  ministers  whatsoever  vi^hich  shall 
reside  in  the  colony  are  to  be  conformable  to  the  orders  and  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  of  England,  and  to  the  laws  therein  estab- 
lished, and  not  otherwise  to  be  admitted  to  teach  or  preach  pub- 
licly, or  privately.  And  that  the  Governor  and  Council  do  take 
care  that  all  Non-Conformists,  upon  notice  of  them,  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  depart  the  colony  with  all  conveniencie.'" 

Sir  William  Berkeley,  Governor  of  the  Colony,  1642  to 
1677,  with  the  exception  of  an  intermission  during  the 
Protectorate  of  Cromwell,  was  in  full  sympathy  with  this 
enactment.  It  was  under  him  that  some  of  the  Nanse- 
mond  Puritans  migrated  to  Maryland,  and  others  to  other 
points.  After  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  to  the  English 
throne,  in  the-revisal  of  the  colonial  legislation  of  1662, 
this  Act  of  Conformity  was  re-affirmed.  Severer  laws 
were  passed  in  1663,®  intended  particularly  for  the  Quak- 
ers, who  had  been  coming  in  since  about  1656 ;  the  laws  of 
1663  were  framed  so  as  to  include  all  "Separatists."  Nor 
were  they  dead  letters.  This  is  proven  by  the  Journal  of 
the  House  of  Burgesses.  This  record  shows  that 
Separatists  smarted  under  penalties  inflicted. 

"  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large;  Vol.  I.,  p.  123. 
'  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large,  pp.  155,  180. 
'  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  I.,  p.  277. 
*  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  2,  pp.  180-4. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  13 

In  the  county  of  Accomac  and  on  Elizabeth  River,  Pres- 
byterians developed  organic  life  after  about  1683.  In  one 
of  these  quarters  the  tobacco  produced  v^as  so  poor,  that 
the  people  could  not  get  an  orthodox  minister  to  stay 
among  them.®  In  these  regions  there  were  occasional 
Scotch  merchants  and  factors,  occasional  Huguenots,  some 
Scotch-Irish,  and  some  English  settlers  of  Puritan 
proclivities.  The  Accomac  people  were  neighbors  to  a 
similar  people  in  Somerset  County,  Maryland.  In  Mary- 
land, prior  to  1692,  when  the  Church  of  England  was  es- 
tablished,' perfect  religious  liberty  had  been  enjoyed. 
People  of  Presbyterian  leanings  in  these  happy  circum- 
stances had,  as  early  as  1680,  addressed  the  Presbytery  of 
Laggan,  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  for  a  minister.  In 
answer  to  their  call,  and  to  another  from  Barbadoes, 
young  and  resourceful  Francis  Makemie  was  sent  over, 
first  to  Barbadoes  and  then  to  Maryland.^"  He  organized 
churches  in  Maryland  and  Accomac  County,  Virginia ; 
looked  after  the  remnants  of  the  Puritan  congregations  in 
Nansemond  County,  and  later  became  foster-father  to  all 
American  Presbyterianism. 

Mr.  Makemie,  it  is  probable,  lived  in  Maryland  for  a 
time,  after  coming  to  this  country.  But  events  carried 
him  to  Virginia.  He  met  with  relatively  little  opposition 
on  the  eastern  shore,  owing  to  the  absence  of  an  Episcopal 
minister.  He  steadily  grew  in  influence ;  and,  if  the 
growth  in  influence  brought  persecution  upon  him,  he  was 
not  the  man  to  yield  till  the  last  available  weapon  had 
been  used. 

"  Compare  Beverly,  History  and  Present  State  of  Virginia,  Book 
4th,  Part  1st,  chap.  7th,  sec.  39;  also,  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia, 
p.  50. 

"  C.  A.  Briggs,  American  Presbyterianism,  Appendix,  p.  44,  et 
seq. 


14  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

He  was  a  man  of  Scotch-Irish  blood  and  typical  Scotch- 
Irish  character;  won  to  Christ  as  a  lad  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen ;  educated  at  the  University  of  Glasgow ;  ordained 
by  the  martyr  Presbytery  of  Laggan,  knowing  well  what 
he  braved  from  what  he  had  seen,  while  in  Scotland,  of 
her  streams  running  with  blood  from  the  victims  of 
Claverhouse  and  Dalziel.  He  was  a  man  of  fervid  piety, 
strong  intellectuality,  vigorous  will-power,  attractive  ad- 
dress, tact,  and  general,  all-round  endowments.  Indis- 
posed to  excite  unnecessary  antagonisms,  he  was  an 
invincible  fighter  for  what  he  regarded  due  to  right.  He 
was  the  man  to  cultivate  Presbyterianism  with  success  in 
the  difficult  circumstances  found  in  Virginia  in  1683  to 
1688,  and  to  take  advantage  of  the  Act  of  Toleration  given 
in  England  in  1689. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Efforts  to  Secure  the  Application  of  the  Act  of 
Toleration,   1689-1763. 

THE  Revolution  of  1688,  which  substituted  for 
James  Stuart,  as  King  of  England,  William  of 
Orange  and  his  wife,  Mary,  is  justly  memorable  as  epochal 
in  the  history  of  religious  liberty,  "the  privileges  of  con- 
science having  had  no  earlier  magna  charta  and  petition 
of  right  whereto  they  could  appeal  against  encroachment." 
They  secured  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  Toleration. 
"This  act  exempts  from  the  penalties  of  existing  statutes 
against  separate  conventicles,  or  absence  from  the  estab- 
lished worship,  such  as  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
and  subscribe  the  declaration  against  popery,  and  such 
ministers  of  separate  congregations  as  should  subscribe 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,"  three 
of  those  articles  and  a  portion  of  a  fourth  excepted.  It 
gives  also  an  indulgence  to  Quakers  without  this  condi- 
tion. Meeting  houses  are  required  to  be  registered,  and 
are  protected  from  insult  by  a  penalty.^ 

The  Toleration  Act  gave  but  a  scant  measure  of 
religious  liberty.  The  Dissenters  still  labored  under  civil 
disabilities.  The  Test  Act  and  Corporation  Act  still  stood 
between  them  and  civil  office.  But  small  though  this  char- 
tered right  of  religious  liberty  was,  it  was  a  bulwark  of 
that  degree  conceded  and  involved  in  it  seeds  germinant 
and  growing  into  larger  liberties. 

^  Henry  Hallam,  Constitutional  History  of  England,  Vol.  II.,  p. 
381. 


i6  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Mr.  Makemie  was  the  man  in  Virginia  to  profit  by  the 
Toleration  Act.  He  was  possessed  of  the  disposition  and 
the  abihties  to  make  it  avail  for  Dissenters.  Tradition 
says  that  he  previously  had  often  suffered  under  the  laws 
of  Virginia.  "He  durst  not  deny  preaching,  and  hoped  he 
never  should  while  it  was  wanting  and  desired."  "In  de- 
fence of  himself,  he  appeared  before  magistrates  and 
before  the  Governor."  It  is  not  improbable  that  he  occa- 
sioned the  incorporation  of  the  Toleration  Act  into  the 
Virginia  laws,  which  was  not  done  till  1699,  and  then 
only  by  a  grudging  and  belittling  reference.^ 

Could  he  have  preached  without  restraint  wherever,  in 
the  vast  field  to  which  Providence  had  called  him,  he; 
found  an  open  ear  on  the  people's  part,  he  would  have 
preferred  this  greater  freedom.  But  he  was  ready  to 
apply  to  the  utmost  the  legal  vantage  of  the  Toleration 
Act,  in  the  absence  of  something  better.  In  the  course  of 
1699,  he  applied  to  the  county  court  of  Accomac  for  a 
certificate  of  qualification  under  that  act.  In  the  records 
of  Accomac,  under  date  of  October  15,  1699,  we  read: 

"  Whereas  Mr.  Francis  Makemie  made  application  by  petition 
to  this  court,  that  being  ready  to  fulfill  what  the  law  enjoins  to. 
Dissenters,  that  he  might  be  qualified  according  to  law,  and 
prayed  that  his  own  dwelling-house  at  Pocomoke,  also  his  own 
house  at  Onancock,  next  to  Captain  Jonathan  Livesley's,  might 
be  the  places  recorded  for  meeting,  and  having  taken  the  oaths 
enjoined  by  Act  of  Parliament,  instead  of  the  oaths  of  Allegiance 
and  Supremacy,  and  subscribed  the  Test  as  likewise  that  he  did 
in  compliance  with  what  the  said  law  enjoins,  produce  certificate 
from  Barbadoes  of  his  qualifications  there,  did  declare  in  open 
court,  of  the  said  county,  and  owned  the  articles  of  religion  men- 
tioned in  the  statute  made  in  the  13th  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
except  the  34th,  35th  and  36th,  and  those  words  of  the  20th  article, 

'  For  this  belittling  reference  see  William  H.  Foote's  Sketches 
of  Virginia,  pp.  48,  49. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  17 

viz.  '  The  Church  hath  power  to  decide  rites  and  ceremonies,  and 
authority  in  controversies  of  faith,'  which  the  court  have  ordered 
to  be  registered  and  recorded;  and  that  the  clerk  of  the  court 
give  certificate  thereof  to  said  Makemie  according  as  the  law 
enjoynes.' '  '  This  is  the  first  certificate  of  the  kind  known  to  be 
on  record.' " 

The  founder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  North 
America,  the  organizer  of  the  first  American  Presbytery — ■ 
the  old  General  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia — interested  in 
enlarging  the  supply  of  ministers  of  his  denomination,  as 
well  as  in  evangelistic  effort  over  a  wide  territory,  he 
travelled  much  through  the  colonies,  from  South  Carolina 
to  Massachusetts,  and,  in  one  of  these  remote  colonies, 
fought  his  greatest  single  battle,  perhaps,  for  religious 
liberty.  In  the  month  of  January,  1707,  Mr.  Makemie, 
on  a  tour  to  New  England,  preached  in  the  incipient  city 
of  New  York.  He  had  been  invited  to  preach  by  some 
of  the  citizens.  He  had  consented.  Application  had  been 
made,  without  his  knowledge,  to  the  Governor  for  per- 
mission to  preach  in  the  Dutch  Church.  This  had  been 
refused,  the  Governor  declaring,  too,  that  it  was  his 
prerogative  to  decide  who  should  be  permitted  to  preach 
in  the  city  and  province.  Air.  Makemie  preached,  never- 
theless, in  an  open  and  public  manner,  in  the  house  of 
William  Jackson,  on  Pearl  Street.  He  also  baptized  a 
child  presented  for  that  ordinance.  Two  or  three  days 
later  he  was  arrested,  and  brought  before  Lord  Cornbury 
in  the  Council  Chamber.  Here  he  was  greeted  with  the 
arrogant  question:  "How  dare  you  to  take  it  upon  you 
to  preach  in  my  government  without  my  license?"  Make- 
mie pointed  to  his  "liberty  from  an  act  of  Parliament 
made  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary,"  with  which  law  he  "had  complied."    Corn- 


'  L.  P.  Bowen,  Days  of  Makemie,  p.  309. 


Rev.  Francis  Makemie  on  Trial  Before  Lord  Cornbury 

From  a  Painting  by  Mr.  H.  A .  Ogdeti,  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  McCook,  the 
President  of  the  Preshyteriaii  Historical  Society. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  19 

bury  declared  that  none  should  preach  in  his  government 
without  his  license.  Makemie  replied:  "If  the  law  for 
liberty  had  directed  us  to  any  particular  person  in  au- 
thority for  license,  we  would  readily  have  observed  the 
same ;  but  we  cannot  find  any  direction  in  the  act  of 
Parliament,  therefore  we  would  not  take  notice  thereof." 
Cornbury  declared :  "That  law  does  not  extend  to  the 
American  plantations,  but  only  to  England."  Makemie 
responded :  "My  lord,  I  humbly  conceive  that  it  is  not  a 
limited  nor  local  act ;  and  am  well  assured  it  extends  to 
other  plantations  of  the  queen's  dominions,  which  is  evi- 
dent from  certificates  from  courts  of  record  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  certifying  we  have  complied  with  the  law." 

Here  the  certificates  were  produced  and  read  by  Lord 
Cornbury,  who  declared  that  they  did  not  extend  to  New 
York. 

He  said  of  the  Act  of  Toleration :  "I  know  it  is  local 
and  limited,  for  I  was  at  the  making  thereof." 

Makemie  replied:  "\^our  Excellency  might  be  at  the 
making  thereof,  but  we  are  assured  that  there  is  no  such 
limiting  clause  therein  as  in  local  acts,  and  desire  that  the 
law  may  be  produced  to  determine  the  point." 

Turning  to  the  attorney,  Mr.  Bekely,  Cornbury  said : 
"Is  it  not  so,  Mr.  Attorney?" 

The  attorney  affirmed  :  "Yes,  it  is. local,  my  lord."  Pro- 
ducing an  argument,  he  went  on  to  say,  that  all  the  penal 
laws  were  "local  and  limited,  and  did  not  extend  to  the 
plantations ;"  and  that  "the  Act  of  Toleration,  being  made 
to  take  off  the  edge  of  the  penal  laws,  does  not  extend  to 
the  plantations." 

To  this  Makemie  answered :  "I  desire  the  law  may  be 
produced;  for  I  am  morally  persuaded  that  there  is  no 
limitation  or  restriction  in  the  law,  to  England,  Wales 
and  Berwick  on  Tweed ;  for  it  extends  to  sundry  planta- 


20  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

tions  of  the  queen's  dominions,  as  Barbadoes,  Virginia 
and  IMaryland,  which  is  evident  from  certificates  produced, 
which  we  could  not  have  obtained  if  the  Act  of  Parhament 
had  not  extended  to  the  plantations.  I  presume  New 
York  is  a  part  of  Her  Majesty's  dominions  also;  and 
sundry  ministers  on  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  have 
complied  with  the  law  and  qualified  themselves  at  court 
by  complying  with  the  directions  of  said  law,  and  have  no 
license  from  your  lordship." 

Cornbury  replied :  "Yes,  New  York  is  of  Her  Ma- 
jesty's dominions;  but  the  Act  of  Toleration  does  not 
extend  to  the  plantations  by  its  own  intrinsic  virtue,  or  any 
intention  of  the  legislators,  but  only  by  Her  Majesty's 
instructions  signified  unto  vie,  and  that  is  from  her  pre- 
rogative and  clemency,  and  the  courts  which  have  qualified 
these  men  are  in  error,  and  I  will  check  them  for  it." 

To  this  Makemie  said :  *Tf  the  law  extends  to  the  plan- 
tations any  manner  of  way,  whether  by  the  queen's  pre- 
rogative, clemency,  or  any  other  wise,  our  certificates  were 
demonstration  that  we  had  complied  therewith." 

But  Cornbury  asserted:  "These  certificates  were  only 
for  Virginia  and  Maryland;  they  did  not  extend  to  New 
York." 

Makemie  responded :  "We  presume,  my  lord,  our  cer- 
tificates do  extend  as  far  as  the  law  extends ;  for  we  are 
directed  by  the  Act  of  Parliament  to  qualify  ourselves  in 
the  places  where  we  live,  which  we  have  done;  and  the 
same  law  directs  us  to  take  certificates  of  our  qualification, 
which  we  have  also  done ;  and  these  certificates  are  not  to 
certify  to  such  as  behold  us  taking  our  qualifications,  being 
performed  in  the  face  of  the  country  at  a  public  court; 
but  our  certificates  must  be  to  satisfy  others  abroad  in 
the  world,  who  saw  it  not,  nor  heard  anything  of,  other- 
wise it  were  needless.    And  that  law  which  obliges  us  to 


And  Religious  Liberty.  21 

take  a  certificate  must  allow  said  certificate  to  have  a 
credit  and  a  reputation  in  Her  Majesty's  dominions; 
otherwise  it  is  to  no  purpose." 

Cornbury  here  took  refuge  in  a  rude  impeachment : 
"That  Act  of  Parliament  was  made  against  strolling 
preachers^  and  you  are  such  and  shall  not  preach  in  my 
government." 

The  imperturbable  Makemie  answered :  "There  is  not 
one  word,  my  lord,  mentioned  in  any  part  of  the  law 
against  traveling  or  strolling  preachers,  as  your  Excel- 
lency is  pleased  to  call  them;  and  we  are  to  judge  that  to 
be  the  true  end  of  the  law  which  is  specified  in  the  pre- 
amble thereof,  which  is:  'For  the  satisfying  scrupulous 
consciences  and  uniting  the  subjects  of  England  in  interest 
and  affection.'  And  it  is  well-known  to  all,  my  lord,  that 
Quakers,  who  have  liberty  by  this  law,  have  few  or  no 
fixed  teachers,  but  are  chiefly  taught  by  such  as  travel, 
and  it  is  known  to  all,  that  such  are  sent  forth  by  the 
yearly  meeting  at  London,  and  travel  and  teach  over  the 
plantations,  and  are  not  molested." 

To  this  Cornbury  retorted :  "I  have  troubled  some  of 
them,  and  will  trouble  them  more." 

Makemie  replied :  "We  hear,  my  lord,  one  of  them  was 
prosecuted  at  Jamaica,  but  it  was  not  for  traveling  and 
teaching,  but  for  particulars  in  teaching  for  which  he 
suffered." 

Cornbury  again  retorted :  "You  shall  not  spread  your 
pernicious  doctrines  here." 

The  ready  Makemie  replied :  "As  to  our  doctrines,  my 
lord,  we  have  our  Confession  of  Faith,  which  is  known 
to  the  Christian  world,  and  I  challenge  all  the  clergy  of 
New  York  to  show  us  any  false  or  pernicious  doctrines 
therein;  yea,  with  these  exceptions  specified  in  the  law, 
we  are  able  to  make  it  appear  that  they  are  in  all  doctrinal 


22  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

articles  of  faith,  agreeable  to  the  established  doctrines  of 
the  Church  of  England." 

Cornbiiry  further  objected:  "There  is  one  thing  wanting 
in  your  certificates,  and  that  is  the  signing  the  Articles  of 
the  Church  of  England." 

Said  Makemie:  "That  is  the  clerk's  omission,  my  lord, 
for  which  we  are  no  way  accountable  .  .  .  ;  but  if  we  had 
not  complied  with  the  whole  law,  in  all  parts  thereof,  we 
should  not  have  had  certificates  pursuant  to  said  Act  of 
Parliament.  And  your  lordship  may  be  assured  that  we 
have  done  nothing  in  complying  with  said  law  but  what 
we  are  still  ready  to  perform,  if  your  lordship  require  it, 
and  that  ten  times  over.  And  as  to  the  articles  of  religion, 
I  have  a  copy  in  my  pocket,  and  am  ready  at  all  times  to 
sign,  with  those  exceptions  specified  by  law." 

Upon  this  Cornbury  charged  him  with  preaching  in  a 
private  house.  Makemie  replied  that  his  lordship  had  nec- 
essi.tated  this  course  by  shutting  him  out  of  the  Dutch 
Church;  but  that  he  had  preached  "in  as  public  a  manner 
as  possible,  zvith  open  doors." 

His  lordship  again  fell  back  upon  his  instructions,  de- 
claring that  no  one  should  preach  in  his  government  with- 
out his  license.  To  this  Makemie  replied  that  he  could  be 
guided  only  by  what  he  had  seen,  declaring  that,  "Promul- 
gation is  the  life  of  the  law."  The  Governor  demanded 
that  Makemie  should  give  bond  and  security  for  good 
behavior,  and  that  he  should  not  preach  any  more  in  his 
government.  The  steadfast  preacher  replied,  that  though 
he  had  "no  way  broke"  his  behavior,  endeavoring  always 
to  keep  a  "conscience  void  of  ofifence  toward  God  and 
man,"  yet,  his  lordship  requiring  it,  he  would  give  security 
for  his  good  behavior,  but  that  he  "neither  could  nor 
dared"  give  bond  and  security  to  preach  no  more  in  His 
"Excellency's  government."        "Then,"   said   Cornbury, 


And  Religious  Liberty.  23 

"you  must  go  to  gaol."  Makemie  answered :  "We  are 
neither  ashamed  nor  afraid  of  what  we  have  done.  .  .  . 
And  it  will  be  unaccountable  in  England,  to  hear  .  .  . 
that  we,  who  have  complied  and  are  still  ready  to  comply 
with  the  Act  of  Toleration,  and  are  nearest  and  likest  to 
the  Church  of  England  of  any  Dissenters,  should  be  hin- 
dered, and  that  only  in  the  government  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey.    This  will  appear  strange  indeed." 

After  further  dialogue,  the  Governor  proceeded  to  write 
out  the  necessary  papers  for  Makemie's  commitment  in 
New  York.  Makemie  moved  that  the  law  be  produced  to 
determine  whether  it  were  local  and  limited  or  not.  He 
offered  to  pay  the  attorney  for  a  copy  of  that  paragraph 
which  contained  the  limiting  clause. 

Cornbury  contemptuously  asked :  "You,  sir,  know  law  ?" 
Makemie  replied  with  confidence:  "I  do  not,  my  lord, 
pretend  to  know  law ;  but  I  pretend  to  know  this  particular 
law,  having  had  sundry  disputes  thereon." 

The  copy  of  his  commitment  was  written  out.  It  was 
illegal  in  several  particulars — granted  and  signed  by  the 
Governor,  whose  legal  functions  did  not  include  such  acts ; 
without  reference  to  the  queen's  authority ;  without  alleg- 
ing any  crime  as  the  ground  of  commitment ;  directing  the 
sheriff  to  hold  him  not  "until  he  is  delivered  by  due  course 
of  law,"  but  "until  further-  orders."  Mr.  Makemie  was 
kept  in  prison  till  March  ist,  notwithstanding  petitioning 
the  Governor  to  know  his  crime ;  pleading  that  he  was  a 
stranger  and  on  his  way  to  New  England,  about  four 
hundred  miles  from  his  home ;  and  asking  what  he  "con- 
ceived to  be  the  undoubted  right  and  privilege  of  every 
English  subject,"  a  "speedy  trial."  When  at  length 
brought  to  trial  before  a  grand  jury,  he  was  indicted  for 
"having  preached  to  an  assembly  of  more  than  five  per- 
sons  without   having  obtained  permission  and   without 


24  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

qualification,  and  also  for  having  used  other  rites  and 
ceremonies  than  those  used  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer."* 

The  trial  was  postponed  till  the  next  term,  in  June. 
As  June  approached,  the  resolute  advocate  of  Dissenters' 
rights,  "with  his  man,"  returned  from  far  Virginia,  to 
New  York,  in  time  to  meet  the  court  on  the  first  day  of  its 
sessions.  In  the  conduct  of  his  case,  he  had  the  aid  of 
three  of  the  best  lawyers  in  New  York.  The  iniquity  of 
the  prosecution  was  made  plain.  His  lawyers  having 
concluded  their  arguments,  Makemie  spoke  in  his  own  de- 
fence. He  had  been  trained  by  many  experiences  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  made  the  ablest  speech,  vindicating  himself 
from  every  charge,  showing  masterful  familiarity  with 
the  English  laws  bearing  upon  his  case,  and  that  he  had 
kept  within  his  right  in  preaching  in  New  York.  He  over- 
matched the  attorney  as  easily  as  he  had  Lord  Cornbury. 
The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  not  guilty,  and  declared 
that  he  had  violated  no  law.  The  court,  nevertheless, 
made  him  pay  all  costs,  including  the  fees  of  his  prosecu- 
tor, amounting  in  all  to  more  than  eighty-three  pounds. 

Immediately  upon  his  liberation,  he  preached  again  in 
the  church  allowed  to  the  French.  His  sermon  was 
printed.  Great  excitement  followed.  Cornbury  tried  to 
have  him  arrested  again ;  but  he  made  his  escape  to  New 
England.     Meanwhile,  after  getting  out  of  confinement 

*A  Narrative  of  a  New  and  Unusual  American  Imprisonment 
of  Two  Presbyterian  Ministers;  And  Prosecution  of  Mr.  Francis 
Makemie,  One  of  Them,  for  Preaching  One  Sermon  in  the  City 
of  New  York.  By  a  Learner  of  Law  and  Lover  of  Liberty;  17^7' 
This  edition  was  reprinted  by  Peter  Force,  Tracts,  Washington, 
1846.  Vol.  III.  Another  edition  was  printed,  New  York,  1755. 
-These  have  reappeared  in  the  writings  of  William  Hill,  William 
H.  Foote,  and  L.  P.  Bowen. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  25 

in  the  previous  March,  he  had  "commenced  a  corres- 
pondence with  our  Brethren  of  the  Ministry  at  Boston," 
had  secured  their  "sympathizing  concurrence."  They  had 
written  to  London  agents,  April  i,  1707: 

"  Except  speedy  relief  be  obtained,  the  issue  will  be  not  only  a 
vast  oppression  on  a  very  worthy  servant  of  God,  but  also  a  con- 
fusion upon  the  whole  body  of  Dissenters  in  these  colonies,  where 
they  are  languishing  under  my  Lord  Cornbury's  arbitrary  and 
unaccountable  government.  We  do  therefore  earnestly  solicit  you, 
that  you  humbly  petition  the  Queen's  Majesty  on  this  occasion, 
and  represent  the  sufferings  of  the  Dissenters  in  those  parts  of 
America  which  are  carried  on  in  so  direct  violation  of  her 
Majesty's  commands,  of  the  laws  of  the  nation,  and  the  common 
rights  of  Englishmen."  ° 

After  his  trial  in  New  York,  and  escape  from  Corn- 
bury,  Makemie  travelled  to  Boston  in  person,  where  he 
further  aroused  the  indignation  of  Dissenters  at  such 
oppression  as  he  had  been  afflicted  with ;  and  their  opposi- 
tion to  its  repetition  in  the  colonies.  Thence  also  he  issued 
a  noble  letter  of  remonstrance  to  Lord  Cornbury  aga'nst 
the  treatment  to  which  he  had  been  subjected. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  Makemie  died  in  1708.  He  had 
fought  the  battle  of  his  age  for  toleration  in  the  colonies. 
He  had  fathered  Presbyterianism  in  this  country.  He 
had  impressed  his  own  character  upon  it.  He  was  to  live 
on  in  that  body  of  Christian  people  of  which  it  has  been 
well  said:  "No  civil  state,  or  religious  denomination  south 
of  the  Hudson,  or  perhaps  in  the  Union,  has  done  more 
for  the  advance  of  civil  liberty,  or  freedom  of  conscience, 
and  the  public  welfare." 

**  Hutchinson,  History  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
2d  Edition,  London,  1768,  II.,  p.  125,  quoted  in  C.  A.  Briggs, 
American  Presbyterianism,  p.  154. 


2,6  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

For  some  years  after  the  death  of  Makemie,  Presbyter- 
ianism waned  in  Virginia.  The  congregations  to  which 
he  had  ministered  in  Accomac  and  on  EHzabeth  River 
broke  up.  Though  there  were  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish 
famihes  scattered  through  the  province,  there  was  no 
Presbyterian  colony,  or  congregation  in  all  the  province 
till  that  of  Potomoke,  about  1720,  and  no  vigorous  colony 
till  1732,  when  Joist  Hite  came  with  sixteen  families  and 
settled  in  the  Great  Vahey,  a  few  miles  south  of  the 
present  town  of  Winchester.  From  this  time  immigra- 
tion into  the  Valley  and  into  the  region  at  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Blue  Ridge  was  rapid.  The  dominating  body 
of  these  immigrants  was  Scotch-Irish  in  blood,  many  of 
them  almost  immediately  from  the  North  of  Ireland. 
They  were  of  the  same  race  with  Makemie.  They  had 
had  inwrought  into  them  by  the  siege  of  Derry  and  by 
the  treatment  they  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish government  since  that  memorable  and  heroic  service, 
an  increase  of  their  love  for  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
It  has  been  said  with  truth  that  these  Scotch-Irishmen 
on  the  frontier,  "thought  freedom  of  choice  in  regard  to 
doctrines  of  belief,  forms  of  worship,  and  ordinances  of 
religion,  and  the  undisputed  and  undisturbed  exercise  of 
this  choice,  confirmed  to  every  member  of  society,  and 
defended  by  law,  made  religious  liberty ;"  and  "thought 
freedom  of  person,  the  right  of  possession  of  property  in 
fee  simple,  and  an  open  road  to  civil  honors,  secured  to  the 
poorest  and  feeblest  member  of  society,  constituted  civil 
liberty."  Within  a  dozen  years  from  the  time  of  Joist 
Kite's  settling  in  Opeckon,  there  were  "congregations"  of 
Presbyterians  at  points  in  Berkeley,  Jefferson,  Hardy, 
Rockingham,  Augusta,  Rockbridge,  Botetourt,  Charlotte, 
Prince  Edward  and  Campbell. 

These  Presbyterians  had   shown  a  degree  of  caution 


And  Religious  Liberty.  27 

when  invading  the  valley  and  adjacent  parts.  John  Cald- 
well, who  settled  subsequently  in  Charlotte  County,  (and 
who  became  grandfather  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  South 
Carolina  statesman),  '^on  behalf  of  himself  and  many 
families"  of  the  same  persuasion,  who  were  about  to  settle 
in  the  back  parts  of  Virginia,"  waited  on  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  of  1738,  and  desired  that  some  members  of 
the  Synod  should  be  "appointed  to  solicit  their  favor  in 
behalf  of  our  interest  in  that  place."  The  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  1729,  in  the  acts  by  which  it  had  adopted  the 
Westminster  Standards  its  own,  had  denied  to  the  State 
all  right  of  control  over  religion.  The  Synod  complied 
with  Mr.  Caldwell's  request,  appointing  certain  of  its 
members  to  wait  on  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Virginia 
with  a  view  of  procuring  "the  favor  and  countenance  of 
the  government  of  that  province  to  the  laying  a  foundation 
of  our  interest  in  the  back  parts  thereof.  The  Synod  also 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  Governor  Gooch : 

''  To  the  Honorable  William  Gooch,  Esquire,  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of  the  Pj-ovince  of  Virginia,  the  humble  address  of  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  convened  in  Synod,  May  28th,  1738,  etc. : 
May  it  please  your  Honor,  we  take  leave  to  address  you  in  behalf 
of  a  considerable  number  of  our  brethren  who  are  meditating  a 
settlement  in  the  remote  parts  of  your  government,  and  are  of 
the  same  persuasion  with  the  Church  of  Scotland.  We  thought  it 
our  duty  to  acquaint  your  Honour  with  their  design,  and  to  ask 
your  favor  in  allowing  them  the  liberty  of  their  consciences,  and 
of  worshipping  God  in  a  way  agreeable  to  the  principles  of  their 
education.  Your  Honour  is  sensible  that  those  of  our  profession 
in  Europe  have  been  remarkable  for  their  inviolable  attachment  to 
the  Protestant  succession,  in  the  illustrious  house  of  Hanover, 
and  have  upon  all  occasions  manifested  an  unspotted  fidelity  to 
our  gracious  sovereign,  King  George,  and  we  doubt  not  but  these 
our  brethren  will  carry  the  same  loyal  principles  to  the  most  dis- 
tant settlements  where  their  lot  may  be  cast,  which  will  ever  in- 
fluence them  to  the  most  dutiful  submission  to  the  government 


28  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

which  is  placed  over  them.  This  we  trust  will  recommend  them 
to  your  Honour's  countenance  and  protection,  and  merit  the  free 
enjoyment  of  their  civil  and  religious  liberties.  We  pray  for  the 
Divine  blessing  upon  your  person  and  government,  and  beg  leave 
to  subscribe  ourselves  your  Honour's  most  humble  and  obedient 
servants." ' 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  was  pleased  to  give  a  "favor- 
able reply"  to  the  Synod's  representations,  the  substance  of 
which  is  in  the  following  letter  to  the  Moderator  of  the 
Synod : 

"  Sir, — By  the  hands  of  Mr.  Anderson  I  received  an  address 
signed  by  you,  in  the  name  of  your  brethren  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia.  And  as  I  have  been  always  inclined  to  favor  the 
people  who  have  lately  removed  from  other  provinces,  to  settle 
on  the  western  side  of  our  great  mountains;  so  you  may  be  as- 
sured that  no  interruption  shall  be  given  to  arty  minister  of  your 
profession  who  shall  come  among  them,  so  as  they  conform  them- 
selves to  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  act  of  toleration  in  England, 
by  taking  the  oaths  enjoined  thereby,  and  registering  the  places 
of  their  meeting.  And  behave  themselves  peaceably  toward  the^ 
government.  This  you  may  please  to  communicate  to  the  Synod 
as  an  answer  of  theirs.  Your  most  humble  servant, 

"  William  Gooch. 

"  Williamsburg^  Va.,  November  4th,  1738."  ' 

This  letter  promises  in  terms  nothing  more  than  what 
Makemie  had  wrested  from  the  Virginia  authorities  in  his 
day.  But  the  promise  was  of  great  value  to  the  Presby- 
terians. It  pledged  the  local  government  to  place  no  bar- 
riers between  them  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  English  Tol- 
eration Act  of  1689.  It  was  something  additional  to  the 
Toleration  Act ,  to  which  appeal  could  be  made  in  the  day 
of  stress.  Moreover,  provided  they  could  achieve  a  larger 
liberty  by  measures  consistent  with  a  "peaceable  attitude 

"  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  140. 
^Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  145. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  29 

toward  the  government,"  they  were  in  no  way  hindered, 
in  proceeding  on  this  promise,  from  attempting  to  achieve 
this  larger  liberty. 

Governor  Gooch  had  been  ready  "to  promise  protection 
in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  forms,"  although  in  a 
colony  "whose  laws  of  uniformity  were  precise  and  en- 
forced with  rigor ;"  because :  First,  He  wished  them  to 
form  a  frontier  wall  in  the  valley,  for  the  Virginia  east- 
ward, against  the  savages.  Second,  Because  he  knew  the 
quality  of  these  men ;  and  knew  that  they  would  make 
good  citizens  and  soldiers.  They  seemed  so  far  away,  too, 
from  the  older  parts  of  Virginia,  that  he  had  little  fear 
of  the  two  sections  colliding  on  the  question  of  religion. 

With  this  vantage,  we  shall  see  these  Scotch-Irish  Pres- 
byterians,  possessed  of  the  characteristics  which  had 
distinguished  them  in  the  old  world,  and  in  union  with 
sympathizers  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  largely  controlling 
the  history  of  Virginia ;  "upon  all  questions  involving  the 
exercise  of  arbitrary  powers"  forming  "a  united  band, 
withstanding  the  tendency  of  the  cavaliers  to  bow  to  royal 
authority,  and  maintaining  their  rights  with  the  spirit  of 
John  Knox.^  We  shall  see  them  quietly  putting  the  gov- 
ernment into  their  debt  by  their  military  services,  and 
quietly  taking  to  themselves  a  larger  liberty;  w^e  shall  see 
them  giving  essential  aid  to  the  legal  and  constitutional 
recognition  of  this  larger  libertty. 

About  the  time  that  Presbyterians  had  begun  to  pour 
in  large  numbers,  into  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  certain  com- 
munities east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  began  to  develop  Presby- 
terian principles.  Dissatisfied  with  the  character  of  the 
preaching  in  their  parish  churches  and  profoundly  stirred 


*  William  Wirt  Henry,  Patrick  Henry,  Life  and  Correspondence, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  75. 


30  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

by  the  teaching  of  a  few  evangelical  volumes  with  which 
they  became  acquainted,  such  as  Lulther's  "Commentary 
on  the  Galatians,"  Boston's  "Fourfold  State,"  and  a 
volume  of  "Whitefield's  Sermons,"  they  met  together  to 
hear  these  books  read.  They  met  at  first  in  private  houses ; 
but  as  their  numbers  grew,  they  determined  to  build 
meeting-houses  in  which  they  might  gather  for  the 
reading. 

Absenting  themselves  from  church,  they  were  soon 
called  upon  by  the  court  to  assign  reasons  for  their  ab- 
sence; they  were  subjected  to  fines.  Asked  to  declare  the 
name  of  the  sect  to  which  they  belonged,  they  did  not 
know  by  whait  name  to  call  themselves.  Recollecting  that 
Luther  was  a  great  reformer,  and  that  his  book  on  the 
Galatians  had  been  of  special  service  to  them,  they  deter- 
mined to  call  themselves  Lutherans.  But  amongst  the 
gentlemen  who  travelled  to  Williamsburg,  to  interview  the 
Governor  and  Council  about  the  matter,  was  one  who, 
traveling  alone,  was  overtaken  and  detained  by  a  violent 
storm,  at  the  house  of  a  poor  man  on  the  road.  Interest- 
ing himself  in  an  old  volume  which  he  found  lying  dust- 
covered  on  a  shelf,  he  found  his  own  sentiments  on  re- 
ligious subjects  set  forth  in  appropriate  language. 
Offering  to  purchase  the  book,  the  owner  gave  it  to  him. 
In  Williamsburg  he  and  his  friends  examined  the  book, 
and  found  that  it  expressed  their  views  on  religious  sub- 
jects. When  they  appeared  before  the  Governor,  they 
presented  this  volume  as  containing  their  creed.  The 
book  was  a  copy  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Scotland.  Governor  Gooch,  of  Scotch 
origin  and  education,  pronounced  them  Presbyterians. 
Beginning  thus,  without  the  agency  of  a  minister,  they 
were  stimulated  and  strengthened  by  four  days  of  preach- 
ing in  July,  1743,  by  Rev.  William  Robinson,  evangelist 


And  Religious  Liberty.  31 

of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle.  During  the  winter  of 
1744  and  1745,  the  Rev.  John  Roan  was,  by  appointment 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  in  Virginia,  visiting  the 
churches.  He  preached  much  in  Hanover  and  neighbor- 
ing counties,  and  with  great  efifect.  He  gathered  con- 
verts at  several  new  centres,  and  freely  criticised  the  de- 
generacy of  the  clergy  in  the  colony  of  Virginia.  He 
thus  became  an  occasion  of  the  increase  of  persecutions 
against  the  Hanover  Presbyterians.  Governor  Gooch 
himself  was  aroused.  He  had  promised  to  the  Presby- 
terian colonists  in  the  valley  and  on  the  southwestern 
frontier,  protection.  He  was  not  unmindful  of  this ;  but 
he  had  made  no  promises  to  such  as  were  leaving  the  Es- 
tablished Church  in  Hanover  and  becoming  Presbyterians. 
Nor  did  he  relish  the  free  criticisms  of  the  clergy  by  this 
Presbyterian  preacher.  The  trials,  fines,  and  other  pun- 
ishments for  non-attendance  on  church  and  for  holding 
their  meetings,  were  made  much  more  burdensome  and 
severe.  Enduring  these  persecutions,  they  were  cheered 
by  transient  visits  from  Revs.  William  Tennant,  Jr.,  and 
Samuel  Blair,  and  by  a  visit  of  four  or  five  days  from  Mr. 
Whitefield,  which  resulted  in  additions  to  their  members. 
After  Mr.  Whitefield's  departure  these  Presbyterians  were 
not  only  without  a  minister,  but  sorely  harassed  by  the 
pains  and  penalties  of  the  law.  A  proclamation  was  set 
up,  on  a  Sabbath  day,  at  their  meeting-house,  "strictly  re- 
quiring all  magistrates  to  suppress  and  prohibit,  as  far  as 
they  lawfully  could,  all  itinerant  preachers ;"  the  people 
forebore  the  reading  that  day  "and  consulted  what  was 
expedient  to  do."  They  were  filled  with  joy  the  week  en- 
suing, however,  to  learn  that  Samuel  Davies  was  coming 
to  preach  amongst  them,  and  that  he  had  qualified  himself 
according  to  law  and  obtained  the  licensing  of  four  meet- 
ing-houses amongst  them. 


Rev.  Samuel  Davies 


And  Religious  Liberty.  33 

This  man,  born  November  3,  1723,  in  New  Castle 
County,  Delaware,  was  highly  endowed  with  capacities 
for  leadership.  "In  person  he  was  tall,  well  proportioned, 
erect  and  comely;  his  carriage  easy,  graceful  and  digni- 
fied ;  his  dress  neat  and  tasteful,  and  his  manners  polished. 
A  distinguished  Virginian  well  expressed  the  impression 
his  appearance  made,  who,  seeing  him  walk  through  a 
court  yard,  remarked  that  he  looked  like  the  ambassador 
of  some  great  king.^  He  was  a  most  persuasive  orator, 
having  all  'the  needed  physical,  mental  and  emotional 
qualities  and  powers.  He  was  tactful,  resourceful,  strate- 
gic in  planning.  He  is  one  of  the  great  men  in  the  history 
of  American  Presbyterianism. 

His  approach  to  Hanover,  by  way  of  Williamsburg,  and 
armed  with  legal  permits,  shows  the  strategy  of  the  man. 
As  far  as  the  law  recognized  his  right,  he  would  avail 
himself  of  its  bulwarks.  His  first  sojourn  in  Virginia,  in 
1747,  was  brief;  but  he  came  back  in  1748  and  served  as 
pastor  about  eleven  years.  When  he  returned  to  Virginia 
in  1748,  he  brought  with  him  his  friend,  John  Rodgers. 
They  went  to  Williamsburg  with  the  view  of  obtaining  a 
license  for  Mr.  Rodgers.  Notwithstanding  the  willing- 
ness of  the  Governor  and  a  minority  of  the  Council,  the 
majority  of  the  Council  would  not  grant  a  license;  were 
even  disposed  to  withdraw  Davies's  license.  In  their  con- 
tention the  young  men  insisted  that  they  "asked  only  for 
a  right,  and  not  a  privilege — that  the  Act  of  Toleration 
was  explicit  in  making  it  a  right  to  ask,  and  a  duty  to 
grant,  license  in  such  cases."  The  narrow  policy  of  the 
Council  was  a  reflection  of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  "Almost 
all  the  intelligent  men  of  the  colony,  and  among  the  rest 


•  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life.  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol  I.,  p.  13. 


34  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

some  who  afterwards  became  distinguished  as  the  cham- 
pions of  an  unqualified  freedom  in  every  thing  relating  to 
the  human  mind — and  even  the  venerable  name  of  Pendle- 
ton, appear  in  the  class  of  persecutors,  a  proof  that  liber- 
ality and  toleration  are  not  instinctive  qualities,  the 
growth  of  an  hour ;  but  the  result  of  wisdom  and  experi- 
ence."i« 

Mr.  Rodgers  was  forced  to  return  to  the  Northern  colo- 
nies, where  he  was  to  run  a  distinguished  career;  and  Mr. 
Davies  to  go  on  to  Hanover  alone,  where  his  eloquence 
and  his  advocacy  of  the  rights  of  Dissenters  was  to  sound 
out  through  all  the  colonies  and  into  the  moither  country. 

The  desire  to  hear  this  young  Dissenter,  whom  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Council  would  have  silenced,  preach  the 
Gospel,  could  not  be  confined  to  the  four  localities  within 
which  Davies  had  preaching  places.  People  came  scores 
of  miles  to  hear  him,  and  soon  expressed  the  desire  to 
obtain  a  portion  of  his  services  for  their  neighborhoods 
for  the  sake  of  their  families  and  neighbors. '  In  Novem- 
ber, 1748,  on  petition  from  the  several  neighborhoods, 
three  additional  places  were  authorized  as  places  of  wor- 
ship. Of  the  seven  authorized  places  for  preaching,  at 
that  date,  three  were  in  Hanover,  one  in  Henrico,  one  in 
Goochland,  one  in  Louisa,  and  one  in  Caroline.  Of  these 
no  two  seem  to  have  been  closer  together  than  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles ;  and  some  of  his  parishioners  had  to  travel 
thirty  or  forty  miles  to  reach  the  nearest  meeting-house. 

April  12,  1750,  the  court  of  New  Kent  County,  on 
petition  from  a  body  of  its  Dissenting  citizens,  licensed  a 
preaching  place  within  its  limits.  This  license,  however, 
the  General  Court  revoked.  A  question  debated  at  this 
time  between  Mr.  Davies  and  the  General  Court  was  as 

^°  Burke,  History  of  Virginia,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  121,  122. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  35 

to  how  many  places  of  preaching  a  Dissenting  minister 
should  have.  The  Attorney-General,  Peyton  Randolph, 
and  certain  members  of  the  court,  contended  that  the 
number  should  be  smaller  than  Davies  already  had,  rather 
than  larger.  Mr.  Davies  held  that  licensure  of  places  and 
ministers,  was  a  right  to  be  acknowledged  by  the  govern- 
ment on  demand  by  the  Dissenters  themselves.  He  pled, 
too,  contrary  to  charges  made,  that  he  was  not  guilty  of 
originating  dissent  in  Hanover,  that  it  had  sprung  up 
without  a  preacher ;  that  the  desire  of  the  people  to  attend 
his  preaching  should  not  be  imputed  to  him  as  a  crime, 
that  some  ministers  of  the  Established  Church,  in  Han- 
over, had  two  or  more  preaching  places,  owing  to  the  ex- 
tent of  their  parishes.  That  those  connected  with  his 
own  church  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  constitute  two 
respectable  congregations,  were  they  located  in  the  vicini- 
ty of  each  other  and  of  the  places  of  worship ;  but  that 
they  were  greatly  scattered,  the  mass  being  in  Hanover, 
"the  others  in  Henrico,  Goochland,  Louisa,  Carolina  and 
New  Kent,"  gnd  at  distances  too  great  to  attend  at  two 
places,  except  by  riding  thirty  or  forty  miles ;"  that  the 
intention  of  the  Toleration  Act  was  to  give  the  Dissenters 
the  privilege  of  worship  in  their  own  preferred  way  under 
cover  of  law ;  that  unless  houses  were  licensed  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  accommodate  them,  the  intention  of  the  Act  of 
Toleration  would  be  thwarted ;  that  the  Dissenters  would 
be  compelled  by  the  court  to  break  the  laws  of  the  pro- 
vince which  obligate  the  citizen  to  the  habit  of  attending 
the  parish  church ;  and  that  court  could  not  design,  by 
withholding  license,  "to  compel  the  peaceable  citizens  to 
subject  themselves  to  expensive  and  vexatious  suits  at 
law,  or  grieve  their  consciences." 

The  lawyers  in  attendance  complimented  Mr.  Davies ; 
the  Governor  and  majority  of  the  Council  sustained  him. 


36  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

THe  young  Dissenter  gained  laurels;  and  he  rejoiced  be- 
cause it  gave  him  opportunity  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  his 
fellowmen.  The  attorney-general,  Peyton  Randolph, 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  put  a  favorable  construc- 
tion upon  the  law,  and  continued  for  years  to  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Presbyterians  obtaining  license 
for  meeting-houses,  especially  when  the  petition  came 
from  neighborhoods  originally  settled  by  others  than  Pres- 
byterians. A  great  part  of  Mr.  Davies'  labor  wa;s  in 
counties  not  originally  Presbyterian ;  and  his  success  was 
reckoned  by  the  attorney  and  others  as  the  progress  of 
dissent  to  the  detriment  of  the  Established  Church."" 

The  Established  clergy  had  become  greatly  excited  by 
the  degree  of  favor  shown  to  the  Dissenters  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  small  as  their  favor  had  been.  They  accord- 
ingly appealed  to  their  diocesan,  the  Bishop  of  London. 
Mr.  Davies  took  measures  to  inform  dissenting  ministers 
in  England,  and,  through  them,  the  Bishop  of  London,  of 
the  real  conditions  and  history  of  the  Virginia  Dissenters ; 
took  measures  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  representations 
made  by  members  of  the  Establishment,  and  to  see  that 
they  were  rectified  when  appearing  to  him  unjust.  His 
spirit,  in  all  this  long  struggle,  appears  in  this  quotation 
from  his  letter  to  Dr.  Benjamin  Avery,  bearing  date  of 
May  2,  1752: 

"  But  this,  Sir,  I  would  inform  you  of,  that  we  are  not  asking  a 
favor  of  the  government,  but  entering  a  legal  claim.  If  it  be 
determined  by  competent  authority,  that  the  Act  of  Toleration 
does  not  allow  the  Dissenters  to  have  meeting  houses  licensed, 
where  they  may  occasionally  meet  for  public  worship,  we  shall 
quietly  resign  our  claim,  till  some  favorable  juncture  happens 
when  we  may  petition  for  our  liberties.  But  if  we  may  legally 
make  this  claim;  if  Dissenters  enjoy  this  privilege  in  England; 
and  if  the  rulers  there  judge  that  the  Act  of  Toleration  entitles 

"  William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  p.  171. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  37 

them  to  it,  then  we  humbly  conceive  that  the  pushing  the  matter 
to  a  determination  could  be  attended  with  no  ill  consequences; 
as  we  only  pressed  for  an  explication  of  the  Act  of  Toleration, 
with  reference  to  Virginia,  according  to  its  true  intent  and  mean- 
ing in  England.  Whether  the  determination  of  such  a  point  be- 
longs to  the  lawyers,  to  judges,  or  to  his  Majesty  and  Council, 
you,  sir,  can  determine ;  though  an  authoritative  order  from  the 
latter  would  be  most  regarded  by  our  rulers ;  and  all  the  order 
we  desire  is  this,  that  wherever  ten  or  fifteen  families  of  Protes- 
tant Dissenters,  who  cannot  attend  at  the  meeting-house  already 
licensed,  apply  for  licenses  at  the  ^General  Court,  they  shall  be 
granted  them.  It  has  been  confidently  affirmed  to  me  by  some  of 
the  Council  that  the  Dissenters  in  England  have  no  such  privilege. 
In  this,  sir,  I  request  your  information ;  for  if  this  be  the  case 
we  must  resign  our  claims."  '" 

From  Dr.  Avery  he  learns  that  by  the  Enghsh  inter- 
pretation of  the  Act  of  Toleration,  the  Dissenters  might 
"ask  for  the  licensure  of  as  many  meeting-houses  as  they 
thought  necessary  without  fear  of  refusal — and  that  this 
interpretation  properly  extended  to  Virginia" — an  inter- 
pretation, however,  to  which  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  Virginia  were  not  to  yield  until  the  Dissenters  had 
placed  the  colony  deeply  in  debt  for  political  services. 

Mr.  Davies  meant  to  secure  to  Dissenters,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, their  legal  rights  to  the  full.  He  expected,  on  a 
"favorable  jwicture,"  to  move  for  an  enlargement  of  their 
legal  rights.  He  fully  believed  that  the  amount  of  tolera- 
tion legally  accorded  dissent  was  far  short  of  what  was 
their  right.  Nor  did  he  hesitate  to  minister  to  Dissenters 
far  beyond  the  bounds  of  his  legally  recognized  field.  He 
made  frequent  missionary  excursions  into  the  territories 
"now  included  in  the  counties  of  Cumberland,  Powhatan, 
Prince  Edward,  Charlotte,  Campbell,  Nottoway  and 
Amelia."     'Tn  these  circuits,    ...    it  was  the  habit  of 

'"  William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  pp.  210,  211. 


38  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Mr.  Davies  either  to  preach  at  the  places  where  he  lodged, 
or  to  give  a  lecture  to  the  family  and  servants,  at  evening 
worship.  These  services  were  pre-eminently  blessed ; 
many  neighborhoods  have  traditions  of  their  usefulness. 
Every  visit  enlarged  his  circuit  and  increased  the  number 
of  places  that  asked  for  Presbyterian  preaching."^^ 

As  opportunity  offered,  he  brought  in  other  ministers. 

The  fact  that  the  peoples  in  whose  houses  he  stopped  on 
these  excursions  were  generally  Scotch-Irish,  and  of  the 
Presbyterian  faith  by  inheritance,  made  this  more  toler- 
able to  representatives  of  the  establishment,  than  if  the 
objects  of  his  evangelizing  efforts  had  by  inheritance  be- 
longed to  the  Established  Church. 

The  circumstances  of  Presbyterianism  farther  North 
gave  to  Mr.  Davies  an  opportunity  to  carry  the  fight  in 
behalf  of  Virginia  to  England  itself.  The  Rev.  Gilbert 
Tennent  and  he  were  chosen  by  the  trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  to  go  on  a  mission  to  the  British 
Isles,  with  a  view  to  securing  funds  with  which  to  set  the 
institution  on  its  feet.  On  this  mission  Mr,  Davies  spent 
the  latter  part  of  the  year  1753,  and  the  whole  of  the 
year  1754.  Their  mission  in  behalf  of  the  college  was 
successful  beyond  their  largest  expectations.  They  be- 
came widely  and  favorably  known  throughout  England 
and  Scotland.  One  of  Mr.  Davies'  motives  in  accepting 
this  distinguished  mission,  is  revealed  in  these  words  from 
his  journal: 

"  To  these  I  may  add,  what  has  most  weight  with  me,  that  the 
Dissenters  in  Virginia  lie  under  such  intolerable  restraints,  that 
it  is  necessary  to  seek  a  redress ;  that  now  is  the  only  proper 
season  for  it,  and  that  none  can  manage  this  affair  as  well  as 
myself,  who  am  concerned  in  it,  and  so  well  acquainted  with  it," 

"William  H  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  pp.  214,  215. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  39 

Again,  after  balancing  considerations  pro  and  con,  he 
says: 

"Then,  I  consider  that  there  is  so  much  need  to  make  some 
attempt  for  the  security  and  enlargement  of  the  privileges  of  Dis- 
senters in  Virginia,  and  that  if  I  were  obliged  to  undertake  a 
voyage  for  that  end  alone,  at  the  expense  of  the  congregation,  it 
would  be  very  burdensome  to  them  and  me.  I  cannot  but  con- 
clude that  it  is  with  a  view  to  this  that  Providence  has  directed 
the  trustees  to  make  application  to  me."  " 

Mr.  Davies'  journal  shows  that  the  cause  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Dissenters  was  never  absent  from  his  mind  while 
in  the  mother  country,  and  that  he  used  every  endeavor 
which  promised  any  relief.  Toward  the  end  of  his  visit 
he  notes  in  a  tone  of  congratulation : 

"  I  find  by  conversation  with  Dr.  Stennet,  there  is  a  prospect 
of  obtaining  licenses  in  the  Bishop  of  London's  court  for  meeting 
houses  in  Virginia." 

Mr.  Davies'  labors  in  behalf  of  larger  liberties  for  his 
fellow  dissenters  could  not  be  fruitless.  His  fame  as  a 
preacher  had  filled  London  and  all  England  and  Scotland. 
Pulpits  were  open  to  him  everywhere.  Immense  audi- 
ences hung  upon  his  word.  It  is  said  that  King  George  IL, 
when  once  in  his  audience,  was  so  enraptured  with  his 
eloquence  and  his  solemn  and  impressive  manner  that  he 
repeatedly  gave  vent  in  speech,  to  those  about  him,  of  his 
feelings,  that  Mr.  Davies  was  shocked  at  what  he  mis- 
took for  the  king's  irreverence;  and  that,  after  pausing 
and  looking  sternly  in  royalty's  direction  several  times, 
he  exclaimed :  "When  the  lion  roars,  the  beasts  of  the 
forest  all  tremble ;  and  when  King  Jesus  speaks,  the 
princes  of  the  earth  should  keep  silence,"  and  that  thus  he 
increased  the  king's  admiration  for  himself.    Certainly  he 

"  See  entry  in  Journal  under  date  of  July  2,  1753. 


40  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

was  too  impressive  a  character  for  his  apologies  for  Vir- 
ginia Dissenters  to  fall  unheeded. 

Davies  came  back  from  England  confirmed  in  the  view 
that  the  General  Court  in  Virginia  had  no  right  to  limit 
the  number  of  houses  for  public  worship  to  be  allowed 
Dissenters  under  the  English  Toleration  Act ;  no  right  to 
specify  the  persons  to  speak  in  particular  meeting-houses. 
He  held  that,  as  far  as  the  law  is  concerned,  any  licensed 
preacher  can  speak  in  any  licensed  house,  and  that  who- 
ever pleases  to  do  so,  can  demand  the  registering  of  their 
house  as  a  place  of  meeting.  As  the  General  Court  per- 
sisted in  its  opposition,  the  Committee  of  the  Deputation 
of  Protestant  Dissenters  resolved  in  February,  1755,  to 
bring  the  subject  before  the  king  in  council  by  appeal 
from  the  prosecution  of  the  authorities  in  Virginia.  They 
fixed  on  the  following  plan  :  The  Virginia  Dissenters,  when 
they  desired  a  new  place  of  worship,  were  to  apply  first 
to  the  County  Court  for  license  thereof ;  if  refused  there, 
then  to  apply  to  the  Governor  and  Council;  if  refused 
there,  then  to  apply  to  the  Governor  alone  for  a  license. 
In  case  of  his  refusal,  they  were  to  use  such  house  or 
place  of  worship,  as  if  it  had  been  licensed ;  and,  if  prose- 
cuted for  doing  so,  were  to  acquaint  the  Committee  there- 
with, who  would  then  send  further  directions  how  to  act. 
Mr.  Davies  received  a  secret  instruction,  also,  that  if  any 
persons  should  be  prosecuted  for  using  such  unlicensed' 
houses,  after  such  applications  as  directed  had  been  made, 
that  then  such  persons  should  appeal  to  the  king  in  Coun- 
cil, whereupon  the  Committee  would  prosecute  the  appeal. 

No  appeal  ever  went  to  England.  Religious  prejudices 
of  long  standing  are  hard  to  move ;  and  the  incrustations 
which  Mr.  Davies  hoped  to  break  up  by  English  govern- 
mental levers,  were  to  be  blown  to  pieces  by  volcanic  out- 
bursts during  great  providential  upheavals;  on  occasion 


And  Religious  Liberty.  41 

of  which  Dissenters  would  struggle  into  their  rights.  The 
opposition  to  Presbyterian  Dissenters  was  greatly  lessened 
during  the  French-Indian  War. 

Mr.  Davies  had  no  sooner  landed  in  Virginia  again, 
than  he  found  himself  in  a  country  in  which  he  could  open 
his  mouth  wherever  he  listed. 

England  and  France  had  entered  upon  the  contest  which 
was  to  decide  the  fate  of  this  country.  France  had  been 
successful  in  securing  as  allies  a  great  number  of  the 
Indian  tribes.  The  Indians  had  begun  to  fall  upon  the 
settlers  all  along  the  Virginia  frontier.  Consternation 
had  seized  upon  the  colonists  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
in  a  less  degree  upon  those  east  of  that  great  divide.  The 
Provincial  Legislature  appointed  the  5th  of  March,  1755, 
as  a  day  for  fasting  and  prayer  to  Almighty  God.  Mr. 
Davies  preached  on  that  day,  from  Daniel  iv.  25 :  "The 
Most  High  ruleth  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to 
whomsoever  he  will" — a  Christian  and  patriotic  address. 
July  20th,  1755,  after  Braddock's  defeat  and  the  conse- 
quent Indian  activities,  Mr.  Davies  preached  in  Hanover 
on  Isaiah  xxii.  12-14:  "And  in  that  day  did  the  Lord  of 
hosts  call  to  weeping  and  mourning  and  to  boldness,  and 
to  girding  with  sackcloth;  and  behold  joy  and  gladness, 
slaying  oxen  and  killing  sheep,  eating  flesh  and  drinking 
wine ;  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  On 
the  first  news  of  the  defeat  and  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
the  most  exposed  families  had  forsaken  their  dwellings, 
and  many  had  proposed  to  abandon  all  the  frontiers  and 
to  return  to  the  more  populous  centres  of  the  province. 
After  lamenting  the  sins  that  had  occasioned  these  suf- 
ferings, Mr.  Davies  proceeds : 

"  Let  me  earnestly  recommend  it  to  you  to  furnish  yourselves 

with  arms    and  put  yourselves  in  a  posture  of  defence 

What  is  that  religion  good  for  that  leaves  men  cowards  on  the 


42  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

appearance  of  danger.  And,  permit  me  to  say  that  I  am  particu- 
larly solicitious  that  you,  my  brethren  of  the  Dissenters,  should 
act  with  honor  and  spirit  at  this  juncture,  as  it  becomes  loyal 
subjects,  lovers  of  your  country  and  courageous  Christians.  That 
is  a  mean,  sordid,  cowardly  soul,  that  would  abandon  his  coun- 
try, and  shift  for  his  own  little  self,  when  there  is  any  probability 
of  defending  it.  To  give  the  greater  weight  to  what  I  say,  I 
may  take  the  liberty  to  tell  you,  I  have  as  little  personal  interest, 
as  little  to  lose  in  this  colony  as  most  of  you.  If  I  consulted 
either  my  safety  or  my  temporal  interest,  I  should  soon  remove 
my  family  to  Great  Britain,  or  the  Northern  Colonies,  where  I 
have  received  very  inviting  offers.  Nature  has  not  formed  me  for 
a  military  life,  nor  furnished  me  with  any  degree  of  fortitude  and 
courage;  and  yet  I  must  declare,  that,  after  the  most  calm  and 
impartial  deliberation,  I  am  determined  not  to  leave  my  country 
while  there  is  any  prospect  of  defending  it.  Certainly  he  does 
not  deserve  a  place  in  any  country  who  is  ready  to  run  from  it 
on  every  appearance  of  danger.  .  .  .  The  event  of  the  war  is  yet 
uncertain;  but  let  us  determine  that  if  the  cause  should  require  it, 
we  will  courageously  leave  house  and  home  and  take  the  field.'"° 

In  connection  with  a  sermon  preached,  August  17,  1755, 
to  the  first  independent  volunteer  company  raised  in  Vir- 
ginia after  Braddock's  defeat,  Mr.  Davies  pronounced 
these  remarkable  words :  "I  may  point  out  to  the  public 
that  heroic  youth,  Colonel  Washington,  whom  I  cannot 
but  hope  Providence  has  hitherto  preserved  in  so  signal  a 
manner  for  some  important  service."^^  His  text  for  this 
sermon  was  2  Samuel  x.  12 :  "Be  of  good  courage,  and 
let  us  play  the  man  for  our  people,  and  for  the  cities  of  our 
God;  and  the  Lord  do  that  which  seemeth  him  good." 

Meanwhile  the  religious  activities  of  Mr.  Davies  never 
ceased.  He  was  also  introducing  other  workers.  In  the 
course  of  this  summer  of  1755,  Mr.  Robert  Henry  was 
installed  pastor  of  Cub  Creek  in  Charlotte  County,  and 

^^  Davies'  Sermons,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  236-238. 
^'Davies'  Sermons,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  41,  ff. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  43 

Briery  in  Prince  Edward  County;  and  Mr.  John  Wright 
was  installed  pastor  of  the  church  in  Cumberland  county. 
In  December,  1755,  Hanover  Presbytery  was  organized. 
It  consisted  of  six  ministers.  Of  these  Messrs.  Todd, 
Henry  and  Wright  had  been  brought  into  their  pastorates 
through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Davies,  and  now  occupied 
portions  of  the  territory  over  which  he  had  repeatedly 
toured.  This  increase  of  ministers  took  away  a  pretext 
for  not  licensing  more  meeting-houses.  Nevertheless,  the 
Council,  under  the  lead  of  Attorney-General  Peyton  Ran- 
dolph, continued  its  opposition  to  the  licensing  of  new 
places. 

Providence,  as  has  appeared,  was  on  the  side  of  the 
Dissenters,  however ;  and  in  process  of  forcing  upon  the 
unwilling  Council  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  letting  Pres- 
byterian Dissenters  alone.  The  French  and  Indian  War 
was  wasting  the  spirit  and  resources  of  the  colony.  In 
the  spring  of  1758  Mr.  Davies  was  once  more  called  upon 
to  stir  the  citizens  of  Hanover  to  "becoming  action."  His 
war  sermons  seem  to  have  been  irresistible.  Into  the  dis- 
heartened and  terrorized  he  infused  courage  and  martial 
fire.  The  following  passage  from  the  sermon  at  the  gen- 
eral muster  in  Hanover  County,  May  8,  1758,  is  credited 
with  having  made  more  volunteers  in  a  few  minutes  than 
the  ranking  officer  was  authorized  to  command. 

"  May  I  not  reasonably  insist  upon  it  that  the  company  be  made 
up  this  very  day  before  we  leave  this  place.  Methinks  your  King, 
your  country,  nay !  your  own  interest  command  me  and  therefore 
I  insist  upon  it.  Oh !  for  the  all-pervading  force  of  Demosthenes' 
oratory — ^but  I  recall  my  wish  that  I  may  correct  it — Oh !  for  the 
influence  of  the  Lord  of  Armies,  the  God  of  battles,  the  Author 
of  true  courage,  and  every  heroic  virtue,  to  fire  you  into  patriots 
and  true  soldiers  at  this  moment !  Ye  young  and  hardy  men, 
whose  very  faces  seem  to  speak  that  God  and  Nature  formed  you 
for  soldiers,  who  are  free  from  the  encumbrance  of  families  de- 


44  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

pendent  on  j-ou  for  subsistence,  and  who  are,  perhaps,  of  but 
little  service  to  society  while  at  home,  may  I  not  speak  for  you 
and  declare  at  your  mouth.  Here  we  are  all  ready  to  abandon 
our  ease  and  rush  into  the  glorious  dangers  of  the  fields,  in  de- 
fence of  our  countrj'?  Ye  that  love  your  country,  enlist:  for 
honor  will  follow  you  in  life  or  death  in  such  a  cause.  You 
that  love  your  religion,  enlist ;  for  your  religion  is  in  danger.  Can 
Protestant  Christianitj-  expect  quarter  from  heathen  savages  and 
French  Papists?  Surely  in  such  an  alliance  the  powers  of  hell 
make  a  third  party.  Ye  that  love  j-our  friends  and  relations,  enlist, 
lest  }'e  see  them  enslaved  and  butchered  before  your  eyes."  " 

Under  such  circumstances  Mr.  Davies  found  it  prac- 
ticable for  him  to  perform  his  ministerial  services  "where- 
ever  duty  and  convenience  invited  him.  The  attorney- 
general  could  scarcely  venture  to  throw  impediments  in 
the  path  of  the  best  recruiting  officer  in  the  province.^^ 

Other  Presbyterian  ministers  and  communities,  depre- 
cating the  expense  and  labor  of  a  long  journey  to 
Williamsburg,  to  obtain  a  license  for  a  new  place  of  wor- 
ship, went  to  using  the  desired  places  without  licenses ; 
and  were  unmolested.  This  was  true  of  Mr.  Wright,  of 
Cumberland,   and   of   Valley   Presbyterians. 

In  the  summer  of  1758  Mr.  Davies  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  college  in  New  Jersey.  After  submitting  the 
matter  to  his  Presbytery  and  to  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  he  entered  upon  the  office  of  president 
at  Princeton  in  September,  1759. 

"  To  no  one  man,  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  does  the 
State  owe  as  much ;  no  one  can  claim  a  more  affectionate 
remembrance  by  Christian  people.  His  residence  in  the 
State  is  an  era  in  its  history.  To  Virginia  we  look  for  the 
record  and  fruits  of  his  labors.  The  Virginia  Synod  claims 

"  Davies'  Sermons,  Vol.  III.,  p.  91. 

'^  William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  p.  296. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  45 

him  as  her  spiritual  father;  and  the  Virginia  creed  in 
politics  acknowledges  his  principles  of  religious  freedom 
and  civil  liberty.  His  influence  on  politics  was  indirect, 
but  not  the  less  sure.  The  sole  supremacy  of  Christ  in  the 
church — the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God — the  equality 
of  the  ministers  of  religion — and  individual  rights  of  con- 
science— principles  for  which  he  pleaded  before  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  and  in  the  defence  of  which  he  encountered 
such  men  as  Pendleton,  Wythe,  Randolph,  and  the  whole 
host  of  the  aristocracy,  are  now  part  and  parcel  of  the 
religious  and  political  creed  of  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  citizens  of  the  'Ancient  Dominion/  He  demon- 
strated the  capability  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  sustain 
itself,  not  only  without  the  fostering  aid  of  the  State,  but 
imder  its  oppressive  law^s.  He  showed  the  patriotism  of 
true  religion;  and  in  defending  the  principles  of  Presby- 
tery, he  maintained  what  Virginia  now  believes  to  be  the 
inalienable  rights  of  man. 

The  time  of  Mr.  Davies'  labors  in  Virginia  embraced 
that  interesting  part  of  Patrick  Henry's  life,  from  his 
eleventh  to  his  twenty-second  year."  ^^ 

"It  was  under  the  influence  of  such  a  man  that  Patrick 
Henry  came  at  the  impressionable  age  of  twelve.  One 
of  the  places  at  which  Mr.  Davies  preached  was  known 
as  'The  Fork  Church,'  and  here  Mrs.  John  Henry,  who 
became  a  member  of  his  church,  attended  regularly.  She 
was  in  the  habit  of  riding  in  a  double  gig,  taking  with 
her  young  Patrick,  who,  from  the  first,  showed  a  high 
appreciation  of  the  preacher.  Returning  from  church 
she  would  make  him  give  the  text  and  a  recapitulation  of 
the  discourse.  She  could  have  done  her  son  no  greater 
service.    His  sympathetic  genius  was  not  only  aroused  by 

"William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  pp.  304  to  305. 


46  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

the  eloquence  of  the  preacher,  who,  he"  ever  declared,  was 
'the  gfreatest  orator  he  ever  heard,'  but  he  learned  from 
him  that  robust  system  of  theology  which  is  known  as 
Calvinism,  and  which  has  furnished  to  the  world  so  many 
of  her  greatest  characters — a  system  of  which  Froude 
writes :  'It  has  been  able  to  inspire  and  sustain  the  bravest 
efforts  ever  made  by  man  to  break  the  yoke  of  unjust 
authority,  .  .  .  has  borne  ever  an  inflexible  front  to 
illusion  and  mendacity,  and  has  preferred  rather  to  be 
ground  to  powder,  like  flint,  than  to  bend  before  violence, 
or  melt  under  enervating  temptations.' 

"Although  Mr.  Whitefield  visited  Hanover  during  one 
of  his  American  tours,  it  is  probable  that  Patrick  Henry 
was  too  young  to  have  appreciated  him,  and  he  had 
reached  manhood  before  James  Waddell,  the  eloquent 
blind  preacher,  entered  the  ministry.  His  early  example  of 
eloquence,  therefore,  was  Mr.  Davies,  and  the  effect  of 
his  teaching  upon  his  after  life  may  be  plainly  traced.  Al- 
though he  never  withdrew  from  fne  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  was  baptized,  he  became  a  persistent  advocate 
of  religious  liberty.  Colonel  Meredith  says  of  him :  "He 
was,  through  life,  a  warm  friend  of  the  Christian  religion. 
He  was  an  Episcopalian,  but  very  friendly  to  all  sects, 
particularly  to  Presbyterians.  His  father  was  an  Episco- 
palian ;  his  mother  a  Presbyterian.'  "^^ 

Providence  often  works  slowly  toward  great  ends. 
Through  Francis  MaRemie  in  Virginia,  Maryland  and 
New  York,  somewhat  in  the  direction  of  religious  liberty 
had  been  achieved.  Through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Davies 
and  his  co-laborers,  who  repeatedly  pleaded  before  the 

*"  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  15-16. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  47 

Governor  and  Council,  somewhat  further  was  gained  to- 
ward freedom  of  conscience.  Still,  meeting-houses  could 
not  be  occupied  without  permission ;  and  this  was  re- 
luctantly and  very  slowly  granted,  generally  one  at  a  time 
only.  The  opinion  of  tlje  attorney-general  of  England, 
favoring  the  Virginia  Dissenters,  though  without  prac- 
tical effect,  at  the  time,  upon  the  General  Court,  wrought 
in  the  same  direction.  The  sympathies  of  English  Dis- 
senters, excited  by  Mr.  Davies  on  his  visit,  sent  him  back 
equipped  with  the  best  devices  at  their  command.  All 
these  efforts  were  worth  while,  since  the  end  to  be  accom- 
plished was  so  worthy. 

If  Providence  works  slowly.  He  works  surely ;  He  uses 
more  than  one  kind  of  instrumentality.  He  makes  things 
work  together  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  pleasure. 
It  has  been  seen  that  when  Mr.  Davies  returned  from 
England,  he  found  the  whole  frontier  of  Virginia  in  dis- 
tress ;  and  the  whole  colony  alarmed"  lest  there  should  be  a 
French  and  Indian  invasion  from  the  Ohio  eastward.  It 
has  been  seen  that,  during  this  French-Indian  War,  when 
the  Dissenters  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  (chiefly  Presby- 
terian) were  at  once  bearing  the  brunt  of  Indian  atrocities 
and  standing  as  a  wall  between  such  atrocities  and  the 
older  portions  of  the  colony,  they  chose  houses  for  wor- 
ship and  occupied  them  without  license  or  molestation — 
"preached  anywhere,  being  so  distant  from  the  metropolis 
and  the  time  being  so  dangerous  and  shocking.  Thus, 
fire  and  sword,  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  aided  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  conscience." 

Providence  used  at  this  time  for  the  furtherance  of  re- 
ligious liberty,  negative  causes  as  well  as  positive. 
Amongst  these,  one  of  the  chiefest  was  the  character  of 
the  Established  clergy  and  the  course  these  gentlemen 
pursued  with  reference  to  their  salaries.     The  character 


48  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

of  the  clergy  of  the  EstabHshment  in  Virginia  was  not 
such  as  begat  a  love  for  the  Established  Church.  Dr. 
Hawks,  quoting  from  Bland's  letter,  teaches:  "That  the 
salary  appointed  by  law  for  the  clergy  is  so  scanty  that  it 
is  with  difficulty  they  support  themselves  and  families, 
and  can  by  no  means  make  any  provision  for  their  widows 
and  children,  who  are  generally  left  to  the  charity  of  their 
friends,  that  the  small  encouragement  given  the  clergy- 
men is  a  reason  why  so  few  come  into  this  colony  from 
the  two  universities ;  and  that  so  many,  who  are  a  dis- 
grace to  the  ministry,  find  opportunity  to  fill  the  par- 
ishes."^^  He  says  again :  "While  among  the  clergy  were 
some  who  were  above  just  suspicion  of  reproach,  it  must 
be  owned  that,  as  a  body,  they  were  anything  but  in- 
vulnerable." 

In  1696,  the  colonial  legislature  enacted  that  each  parish 
minister  should  "have  and  receive  for  his  maintenance, 
the  sum  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,  besides 
his  lawful  pre-requisites,  and  that  it"  should  and  might 
"be  lawful  for  the  vestry,  etc.,  to  levy  the  same  in  their 
respective  parishes."  The  legislature  of  1749  made  it 
a  law  that  the  glebe  lands  should  contain  about  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  "a  good  and  convenient  tract  of  land,"  with 
"proper  dwelling  and  out-houses;  that  the  salary  should 
be  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco,"  with  an  allow- 
ance of  "four  per  cent,  for  shrinkage."  It  provided  also 
that  "every  minister  received  into  any  parish  as  afore- 
said," should  "be  entitled  to  all  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
benefits  of  his  parish,"  and  "might  maintain  an  action  of 
trespass  against  any  person  whatsoever  who  should  dis- 
turb him  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  thereof."     In 

"  F.  L.  Hawkes,  Contributions  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
the  United  States  of  America — Virginia,  Vol.  I.,  p.  117. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  49 

1755  the  clergy  of  the  Estabhshment  petitioned  for  an 
increase  of  salary.  The  time  was  not  favorable  to  the 
increase.  The  French-Indian  War  was  beginning.  The 
summer  of  1755  was  one  of  severe  drought.  In  October. 
1755,  the  House  of  Burgesses,  seeing  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  the  planters  to  discharge  their  tobacco 
debts  in  kind,  passed  an  act,  to  continue  in  force  for  ten 
months,  making  it  lawful  for  debtors  to  pay  their  tobacco 
dues  and  taxes  in  money,  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  shillings 
and  eight  pence  for  every  hundred  pounds  of  tohacco,  at 
the  rate  of  two  pence  per  pound,--  which  was  the  usual 
price  when  the  crops  were  fair. 

"This  act,  the  necessity  of  which  was  so  obvious,  was 
very  generally  acquiesced  in  by  creditors.  As  it  was  an 
effort  to  regulate  a  fluctuating  currency  by  one  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  standard,  and  only  directed  the  value  to  be 
placed  on  that  which  had  fluctuated,  which  was,  in  the 
minds  of  the  parties  to  the  contracts  involved,  and  of  the 
legislature  when  the  public  taxes  were  laid,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  right  and  proper.  The  same  principle 
was  a]!)plied  in  settling  debts  in  the  United  States,  in 
France,  and  in  the  late  Confederate  States,  upon  the 
failure  of  their  revolutionary  currencies.  Debtors  were 
allowed  to  pay  their  debts  contracted  with  reference  to  the 
collapsed  paper  money  as  a  standard  of  value  in  the 
equivalent  value  in  specie."-^ 

The  clergy  were  somewhat  divided  as  to  the  proper 
course  to  take  with  reference  to  this  act ;  but  in  conven- 
tion, the  majority  determined  that  it  belonged  to  them  to 
share  the  misfortunes  of  their  people. 

"  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large.  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  568,  569. 
''  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  p.  31. 


so  Virginia  pRESBYtERiANisM 

In  1758,  the  season  was  again  bad,  the  tobacco  crop 
failed;  and  an  act  similar  to  that  of  1755  was  passed,  to 
continue  in  force  for  one  year.-* 

This  time  the  clergy  complained  loudly,  since  the  mar- 
ket price  of  tobacco  rose  to  thrice  that  which  they  received. 
Although  the  law  was  universal  in  its  effects,  the  clergy 
were  the  only  class  that  resisted  its  operation.  In  con- 
vention they  determined  to  appeal  to  the  king.  The  Rev. 
John  Camm  was  sent  to  England  with  a  petition  for  the 
veto  of  the  act.  "He  obtained  an  order  of  Council  to 
this  effect,  dated  August  10,  1759,  and  was  told  by  the 
Lords  of  Trade  and  the  Privy  Council  that  this  would 
render  the  act  void,  ab  initio/'  Neither  the  act  of  1755, 
nor  that  of  1758,  had  the  usual  clause,  suspending  its 
operation  until  the  king's  sanction  should  be  obtained. 
The  Council  denounced  them  as  usurpation.  Thereupon 
the  clergy  began  suits  in  the  civil  courts  to  recover 
damages. 

The  question  between  the  clergy  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Burgesses  and  people  of  Virginia  on  the  other,  was  a 
twofold  one.  Are 'the  acts  of  1755  and  1758  morally  justi- 
fiable ?  a  question  already  discussed ;  and,,  can  an  act  of 
the  colonial  legislature  be  considered  in  force  between  its 
date  and  the  disapproval  of  the  king. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  clergy  to  bring  suit  was  Rev. 
James  Maury,  of  Louisa  County.  The  proceedings  to  the 
date  of  the  jury  trial  had  gone  in  Mr.  Maury's  favor. 
Providence  brought  forward,  in  a  young  man  on  whom 
Samuel  Davies  had  put  his  stamp,  an  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  the  people  adequate  to  the  occasion. 

Having  stated  the  issues  involved  in  the  case,  Mr. 
Henry  entered  upon  a  discussion  of  the  mutual  relations 

^*  Henning's  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  249-250. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  51 

and  reciprocal  duties  of  the  king  and  his  subjects.  "He 
maintained  that  government  was  a  conditional  compact, 
composed  of  mutual  and  dependent  covenants,  the  king 
stipulating  protection  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  people 
stipulating  obedience  and  support  on  the  other.  He  de- 
clared that  a  violation  of  these  covenants  by  either  party 
discharged  the  other  from  obligation.  He  claimed  that 
in  the  colonial  government  the  Burgesses  represented  the 
House  of  Commons,  the  Council  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
the  Governor  the  king,  and  that  a  law  approved  by  these 
should  be  deemed  valid  until  it  was  disallowed.  He  then 
took  up  the  act  of  1758,  and  discussed  its  provisions,  and 
the  necessities  of  the  people  which  caused  its  enactment. 
He  contended  that  it  had  every  characteristic  of  a  good 
law,  that  it  was  a  law  of  general  utility,  and  could  not  be 
annulled  consistently  with  the  compact  between  the  king 
and  the  people ;  that  the  disallowance  by  the  king  of  this 
salutary  act  was  an  instance  of  misrule,  and  neglect  of 
the  interests  of  the  colony,  which  made  it  necessary  that 
they  should  provide  for  their  own  safety  by  adhering  to 
the  directions  of  the  act;  and  that  by  this  conduct  the 
king,  from  being  the  father  of  his  people,  had  degenerated 
into  a  tyrant,  and  forfeited  all  right  to  his  subjects'  obe- 
dience to  his  order  regarding  it.  At  this  point  Mr.  Lyons 
cried  out  with  warmth:  'The  gentleman  has  spoken 
treason,  and  I  am  astonished  that  your  worships  can 
hear  it  without  emotion,  or  any  mark  of  dissatisfaction.' 
At  the  same  instant,  among  some  gentlemen  behind  the 
bar  there  was  a  confused  murmur  of  'Treason !  Treason !' 
Mr.  Henry  paid  no  attention  to  the  interruption,  but  con- 
tinued in  the  same  strain,  without  receiving  any  sign  of 
disapprobation  from  tjie  bench,  which  sat  spell-bound  by 
his  eloquence,  while  some  of  the  jury  nodded  their  appro- 
bation.    Passing  from  this  topic,  the  speaker  next  dis- 


52  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

cussed  the  relations  of  the  clergy  to  the  people.  He  con- 
tended that  the  only  use  of  an  Established  Church  and 
clergy  in  society  is  to  enforce  obedience  to  civil  sanctions, 
and  the  observance  of  those  which  are  called  duties  of 
imperfect  obligation;  that  when  a  clergy  cease  to  answer 
these  ends,  the  community  have  no  further  need  of  their 
ministry,^  and  may  justly  strip  them  of  their  appoint- 
ments ;  that  the  clergy  of  Virginia,  in  this  particular  in- 
stance of  their  refusing  to  acquiesce  in  the  law  in  ques- 
tion, so  far  from  answering,  had  most  notoriously  coun- 
teracted those  great  ends  of  their  institution;  that  there- 
fore, instead  of  useful  members  of  the  State,  they  ought 
to  be  considered  as  enemies  of  the  community ;  and  that 
in  the  case  now  before  them,  Mr.  Maury,  instead  of 
countenance  and  protection  and  damages,  very  justly 
deserved  to  be  punished  with  signal  severity.  While  dis- 
cussing this  part  of  his  subject,  he  said,  as  Captain 
Trevilian  relates : 

"  We  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  benevolence  and  holy 
zeal  of  our  reverend  clergy,  but  how  is  this  manifested?  Do  they 
manifest  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  humanity  by  prac- 
ticing the  mild  and  benevolent  precepts  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus? 
Do  they  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked?  Oh,  no,  gentle- 
men !  Instead  of  feeding  the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked, 
these  rapacious  harpies  would,  were  their  powers  equal  to  their 
will,  snatch  from  the  hearth  of  their  honest  parishoner  his  last 
hoe-cake,  from  the  widow  and  her  orphan  children  their  last  milch 
cow !  the  last  bed,  nay !  the  last  blanket  from  the  lying-in 
woman !" 

"These  words,  uttered  with  all  the  power  of  the  orator, 
aroused  in  the  audience  an  intense  feeling  against  the 
clergy,  which  became  so  apparent  as  to  cause  the  reverend 
gentlemen  to  leave  their  seats  on  the.  bench  and  to  quit  the 
court-house  in  dismay. 

"The  speaker,  continuing,  described  the  bondage  of  a 


And  Religious  Liberty.  53 

people,  who  were  denied  the  privilege  of  enacting  their 
own  laws,  and  told  the  jury  that,  unless  they  were  disposed 
to  rivet  the  chains  of  bondage  on  their  necks,  he  hoped 
they  would  not  let  slip  the  opportunity,  which  was  now 
offered,  of  making  such  an  example  of  the  plaintiff,  as 
might  hereafter  be  a  warning  to  himself  and  to  his 
brethren  not  to  dispute  the  validity  of  such  laws,  authen- 
ticated by  the  only  authority  which,  in  his  conception, 
could  give  force  to  laws  for  the  government  of  the  colony, 
the  authority  of  a  House  of  Burgesses,  of  a  council,  and 
of  a  kind,  benevolent  and  patriotic  governor.  He  added 
that,  under  the  ruling  of  the  court,  they  must  find  for  the 
plaintiff,  but  they  need  not  find  more  than  one  farthing, 
and  that  this  would  accomplish  all  that  the  defence 
desired."*^ 

No  other  case  was  brought  to  trial.  In  Mr.  Maury  the 
clergy  had  one  of  their  worthiest  representatives.  It  was 
for  the  good  of  liberty  that  the  case  was  tried  in  Hanover, 
where  dissent  was  strong,  and  that  the  cause  of  the 
people  had  as  its  advocate  a  man  who  had  contrasted  the 
dignity  and  worth  of  dissent  as  embodied  in  Davies  with 
the  character  of  many  of  the  clergy  entrenched  in  the 
Establishment ;  and  who  had  caught  the  great  preacher's 
way  of  reasoning  from  fundamental  principles.  The  strug- 
gle over  the  parsons'  salaries  witnessed  the  alienation  of 
the  people  from  the  clergy.  Bitter  pamphleteering  had 
been  indulged  in  on  both  sides.  The  character  of  the 
clergy  had  been  so  presented  that  they  could  maintain  no 
dominancy  any  longer.  The  people,  the  legislature,  waited 
only  for  a  fitting  occasion  to  take  away  their  legal  power. 
The  rights  of  the  people  were  connected  in  current  thought 
with  dissent,  and  Presbyterian  dissent. 

^°  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  pp.  40-42, 


54  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Amongst  important  agents  used  of  Providence  in  bring- 
ing about  religious  freedom  were  the  Baptists.  The  Bap- 
tists were  a  feeble  folk  in  the  American  colonies  for  the 
first  century  and  a  half.  "In  1770.  so  far  as  is  known,  the 
Baptists  numbered  JJ  churches,  with  about  5,000  members 
in  the  colonies."  In  1743,  a  few  regular  Baptist  famiHes 
had  settled  in  Berkeley  County,  and  founded  a  church, 
which  spread  in.  the  valley  and  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
till,  by  1770,  they  had  churches  scattered  through  the 
Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  north  of  Fredericksburg.  As 
early  as  the  year  1758  Separate  Baptists  had  made  a  per- 
manent lodgment  in  Pittsylvania,  where  Samuel  Harris, 
of  that  county,  was  converted.  About  the  year  1766  he 
went  through  the  counties  on  the  north  side  of  the  James 
River.  November  20,  1767,  he  assisted  in  forming  the 
church  of  Upper  Spottsylvania.  From  that  date  the  Bap- 
tists spread  rapidly  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Bay 
Shore.  They  were  an  ofif-shoot  of  the  "New  Lights." 
Their  enthusiasm,  their  evangelism,  their  propagandism, 
their  criticisms  of  the  established  clergy,  and  their  being 
new,  made  them  popular  with  the  masses,  whilst  these 
qualities,  together  with  their  general  neglect  of  getting 
permits  from  the  government  for  their  ministers  and 
licenses  for  their  meeting-houses,  of  which  Presbyterians 
had  grown  negligent  ten  years  before,  brought  upon 
them  bitter  persecutions  at  the  hands  of  friends  of  the 
Establishment.  They  were  subjected  to  various  kinds  of 
persecutions.  Their  preachers  were  jailed  repeatedly  in 
various  counties;  and  by  their  zeal  and  constancy,  gave 
occasion  to  the  advocates  of  human  rights  to  voice  the 
truth.  The  records  show  that  the  powerful  advocacy  of 
Mr.  Henry  was  more  than  once  successfully  invoked  to 
defend  those  imprisoned  for  the  'heinous  charge  of  wor- 


And  Religious  Liberty.  55 

shipping  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  con- 


'26 


During  these  sixth  and  seventh  decades,  the  Baptist 
people  were  illustrating  an  important  principle  of  true 
Christian  economy.  They  were  winning  the  worici  by  mis- 
sionary effort,  undeterred  by  persecutions.  They  were 
also  giving  voice  to  their  sense  of  the  injustice  of  their 
persecutions.  In  the  next  period  they  will  rain-in  petitions 
to  the  colonial  or  State  legislature,  first  for  larger  tolera- 
tion,^'^ afterwards  for  religious  liberty  of  the  fullest  sort. 
They  will  take  a  noble  part  in  the  Revolutionary  move- 
ments, looking  to  civil  liberty,  and,  in  consequence,  be- 
come more  efficient  advocates  of  the  coveted  religious 
liberty. 

Such  were  some  of  the  forces  marshalled  by  Providence 
in  the  cause  of  religious  liberty. 

The  Presbyterian  factor  had  been  at  work  since  the  days 
of  Makemie.  He  passed  away,  but  his  influence  was 
abiding.  Organized  Presbyterianism  made  its  way  back 
into  Virginia ;  and  its  influence  was  felt.  In  the  time  of 
Davies  and  the  French-Indian  War,  Presbyterians  shook 
off  many  fetters  from  their  own  limbs  and  made  the  like, 
thereby,  easier  for  others.  By  patriotic  services  to  the 
colony,  they  struck  blows  of  vast  effectiveness,  making 
for  religious  liberty.  Thenceforth,  if  the  General  Court 
Jstill  claimed  the  prerogative  of  granting  papers  of  quali- 
fication to  dissenting  ministers,  and  licenses  for  preaching 
places,  such  permits  were  to  be  had  for  the  asking.  The 
^  Baptists,  springing  up,  were  used  in  similar  fashion,  to 

"°  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  p.  119. 

"  Charles  F.  James,  The  Struggle  for  Religious  Liberty  in  Vir- 
ginia, p.  32,  quotation  from  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesseg 
of  May  26,  1770. 


56  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

the  same  end.  He  who  maketh  the  wrath  of  man  to 
prai&e  Him,  turned  the  baseness  of  a  portion  of  the  clergy 
of  the  EstabHshment,  and  the  Parsons'  Cause  into  an  oc- 
casion of  forwarding  the  cause  of  rehgious  Hberty.  He 
raised  up  a  man  of  destiny,  trained  him  through  a  Pres- 
byterian mother  and  a  Presbyterian  minister,  to  be  the 
peerless  advocate  of  the  people's  rights  against  the  tyranny 
of  arbitrary  power,  in  State  and  in  Church;  trained  him 
for  the  defense  of  the  rights  of  Baptist  dissent  before  the 
civil  courts ;  and  provoked  him  to  the  actual  defense  by 
the  sufferings  of  the  Baptists — provoked  him  to  re- 
announce  principles  as  old  as  Christianity,  formally  held 
by  all  Protestants  since  the  Reformation,  and  which  the 
major  part  of  Virginians  would  be  ready  ere  long  to  put 
into  practice. 

By  such  concurrence  of  forces,  Providence  was  about 
to  introduce  Virginians  to  a  new  stage  of  Christian 
civilization. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Progress  into  Religious  Liberty  During  the  Revo- 
lutionary Period. — 1763  to'  1791. 

THE  conclusion  of  the  French-Indian  War,  in  the 
Peace  of  Paris,  gave  Great  Britain  an  oppor- 
tunity to  enforce  vigorously  the  system  of  repression 
and  taxation  which  her  ministers  thought  necessary 
in  dealing  with  the  independent  colonists.  Early  in 
1764,  Parliament  voted  that  they  had  a  right  to  tax 
the  American  colonies,  though  the  colonies  were  not 
represented.  This  was  followed  by  a  number  of  acts 
of  indirect  taxation.  In  March,  1765,  Parliament  passed 
the  Stamp  Act,  which  required  the  use  of  stamped 
paper  for  legal  documents,  pamphlets,  and  news- 
papers throughout  the  colonies.  The  news  was  re- 
ceived in  America  with  fear  and  indignation.  For  some 
reason  or  other,  fear,  most  probably,  the  colonial  legisla- 
tures were  slow  to  make  decided  opposition.  In  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature  the  leaders  were  disposed  to  submit. 
They  had  joined  with  the  colonies  in  their  earnest  protest 
against  its  passage,  prior  to  the  enactment.  They  had 
done  their  utmost.  Mr.  Patrick  Henry  had  just  been 
elected  to  the  House.  His  sagacity  convinced  him  "that 
submission  to  the  act  would  be  fatal  to  the  liberties  of  the 
colonies ;  and  that  a  bold  move  might  have  the  efifect  of 
uniting  the  people  in  a  determined  opposition  to  its  ex- 
ecution." Seeing  the  men  of  weight  averse  to  opposi- 
tion, and  the  commencement  of  the  tax  at  hand,  and  that 
no  other  m^n  was  likely  to  step  forth,  he  "determined  to 


58  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

venture  alone,  unadvised,  and  unassisted."  On  a  blank 
leaf  of  an  old  law  book,  he  wrote  his  famous  Resolutions 
Against  the  Stamp  Act,  May  30,  1765  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  first  adventurers  and  settlers  of  this,  his 
Majesty's  colony  and  dominion,  brought  with  them,  and  trans- 
mitted to  their  posterity,  and  all  other  his  Majesty's  subjects, 
since  inhabiting  in  this,  his  Majesty's  said  colony,  all  the  privi- 
leges, franchises,  and  immunities,  that  have  at  any  time  been 
held,  enjoyed,  and  possessed  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted  by  King  James 
the  First,  the  colonists,  aforesaid,  are  declared  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges,  liberties  and  immunities,  of  denizens  and  natural-born 
subjects,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  they  had  been  abiding 
and  born  within  the  realm  of  England. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  taxation  of  the  people  by  themselves,  or  by 
persons  chosen  by  themselves  to  represent  them,  who  can  only 
know  what  taxes  the  people  are  able  to  bear,  and  the  easiest  mode 
of  raising  them,  and  are  equally  affected  by  such  taxes  them- 
selves, is  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  British  freedom,  and 
without  which  the  ancient  constitution  cannot  subsist. 

''Resolved,  That  his  Majesty's  liege  people  of  this  most  ancient 
colony  have  uninterruptedly  enjoyed  the  right  of  being  thus  gov- 
erned by  their  own  assembly  in  the  article  of  their  taxes  and 
internal  police,  and  that  the  same  hath  never  been  forfeited,  or 
any  other  way  given  up,  but  hath  been  constantly  recognized  by 
the  king  and  people  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  Therefore,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
colony  have  the  sole  right  and  power  to  lay  taxes  and  impositions 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony;  and  that  every  attempt  to 
vest  such  power  in  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  othei"  than 
the  General  Assembly  aforesaid,  has  a  manifest  tendency  to  de- 
stroy British  as  well  as  American  freedom." 

Showing  them  to  Messrs.  George  Johnston,  of  Fairfax, 
and  John  Fleming,  of  Cumberland,  and  getting  promise 
of  their  support,  he  moved  them.  Mr.  Johnston  seconded 
them.  They  were  opposed  by  Messrs.  Randolph,  Bland, 
Pendleton,  Wythe  and  all  the  old  members,  whose  influ- 
ence till  now  had  been  unbroken.     "But  torrents  of  sub- 


And  Religious  Liberty.  59 

lime  eloquence  from  Henry,  backed  by  the  solid  reasoning 
of  Johnston,  prevailed,"  and  the  resolutions  were  passed 
by  a  small  majority.  This  son  of  a  Presbyterian  mother, 
with  the  impress  of  Davies  upon  him,  won  this  great  vic- 
tory by  the  aid  of  Presbyterians.  "Mr.  Jefferson,  in 
after  years,  said  that  the  members  from  the  upper  coun- 
ties invariably  supported  Mr.  Henry  in  his  revolutionary 
measures,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  they  did  so  on  this 
occasion,  and  that  to  the  Scotch-Irish  and  Huguenot 
members  he  was  indebted  for  his  triumph."^ 

The  Stamp  Act  and  Mr.  Henry's  opposition  made  the 
Revolutionary  War  inevitable,  through  which  the  estab- 
lishment of  religious  liberty  was  made  practicable. 

Meanwhile  Presbyterianism  continued  to  diffuse  its  in- 
fluence in  Virginia,  under  the  protection  of  a  generous 
interpretation  of  the  Act  of  Toleration.  Presbyterians 
were  now  so  numerous,  their  ministers  of  such  respecta- 
bility, and  their  patriotic  temper  and  services  so  valuable, 
that  they  were  persecuted  at  most  only  with  tongue  and 
pen. 

This  species  of  persecution  fell  particularly  to  the  lot 
of  such  ministers  as  did  missionary  work  within  the  sphere 
hitherto  dominated  by  the  Episcopal  Church.  The  Rev. 
James  Waddell,  in  Lancaster  and  Northumberland  Coun- 
ties, was  one  of  those  who  suffered  most  severely.  He 
was  singularly  well-fitted,  too,  to  vindicate  the  rights  of 
his  party  before  the  bar  of  reason  and  justice.  Virginia 
Presbyterians  grew  in  intellectual  grasp  of  the  whole 
question  of. religious  rights.  "Truth  is  like  a  torch — the 
more  it's  shook  it  shines." 

They  profitted  not  only  by  virtue  of  their  own  local 

'  William  Wirt  Henry.  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  p.  87. 


6o  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

agitations,  but  by  the  discussions  going  on  in  their 
church  at  large,  and  particularly  by  that  in  the  colony  of 
New  York.  There  Presbyterianism  was  ancient,  its  rights 
clear,  and  those  rights  maintained  with  distinguished 
ability. 

"During  the  quarter  of  a  century  immediately  preceding 
the  Revolution,  a  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  of  re- 
ligious rights,  important  for  its  effect  upon  the  popular 
mind,  as  well  as  for  the  ability  displayed  in  its  prosecu- 
tion, was  conducted  through  the  public  press  by  leading 
men  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York.  Three 
of  these  were  eminent  lawyers.  A  fourth  was  the  young 
pastor  of  the  Wall  Street  Church,  Alexander  Cumming, 
whose  appeals  and  cogent  arguments  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  force  and  weight  of  the  pamphlet  and  news- 
paper publications  of  the  day.  But  the  names  of  his 
parishioners,  William  Smith,  William  Livingston,  John 
Morin  Scott,  are  better  known  in  connection  with  this 
debate.  The  battle  for  religious  liberty  was  well  fought, 
at  a  time  when  the  great  struggle  for  civil  freedom  was 
beginning,  by  'the  Presbyterian  lawyers'  of  New  York; 
and  not  only  for  their  own  religious  communion,  but 
equally  for  other  Christian  bodies.  It  is  certainly  to  the 
credit  of  these  advocates  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  that 
representing  a  church  which,  in  Great  Britain,  was  a 
church  by  law  established — one  of  the  two  communions 
in  alliance  with  the  State,  the  National  Church  of  Scot- 
land— they  pleaded  the  common  cause  of  Protestant  de- 
nominations not  conforming  to  the  Church  of  England. 
By  the  prominent  part  they  took  in  this  discussion,  as 
well  as  by  their  activity  in  the  political  discussions  of  the 
day,  Livingston  and  his  associates  incurred  suspicion  and 
odium  as  dangerous  men.  But  their  arguments  and  ap- 
peals carried  the  judgment  and  the  sympathies  of  the 


And  Religious  Liberty.  6i 

people.  The  partisans  of  the  Church  estabUshment  were 
no  match  for  the  men  who  stood  forth  in  defence  of  the 
rights  of  conscience  and  the  freedom  of  the  land  from  an 
oppressive  ecclesiastical  rule."- 

Virginia  Presbyterians,  about  this  time,  were  receiving 
furt^ier  fitting  for  their  fight,  from  Princeton  College, 
and  particularly  from  its  head.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon.  He 
was  training  men  who  would  lead  them  to  victory — Caleb 
Wallace,  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  John  Blair  Smith,  Wil- 
liam Graham,  Henry  Lee  and  James  Madison.  Dr.  With- 
erspoon had  vastly  improved  the  curriculum  of  the  insti- 
tution over  which  he  presided.  ''Among  the  important 
reforms  he  introduced  into  the  system  of  studies,  were 
an  enlargement  of  the  mathematical  course,  a  special  at- 
tention to  metaphysical  science,  which  had  recently  made 
such  marked  advances  under  the  lead  of  the  great  minds 
of  his  own  country  (Scotland),  an  extension  of  the  course 
of  moral  philosophy,  so  as  to  embrace  the  general  princi- 
ples of  public  law  and  politics,  a  course  of  history,  and 
regular  instruction  practical  and  theoretic,  in  the  canons 
of  criticism  and  taste,  and  the  art  of  literary  composi- 
tion."-'' He  was  possessed  of  a  strong  sympathy  and  at- 
tachment to  popular  rights,  "nurtured  in  the  contests  he 
had  waged  against  the  claims  of  privilege  and  patronage 
in  his  mother  church ;  a  practical  wisdom  and  talent  for 
affairs  acquired  by  the  experience  of  life ;  and  a  purity, 
manliness  and  conscientious  courage  and  energy,  all  his 
own."* 

^  C.  W.  Baird,  Civil  Status  of  Presbyterians  in  the  Province  of 
New  York,  in  Mag.  Amer.  Hist.,  1879,  pp.  620-21,  quoted  in  C.  A. 
Briggs,  American  Presbytcrianism,  pp.  341-2. 

^  William  C.  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  James  Madison,  Vol.  I., 
p.  17. 

*  William  C.  Rives,  Id.,  I.,  pp.  16,  17. 


Rev.  John  Witherspoon 


And  Religious  Liberty.  63 

It  was  natural  that  such  a  man  should  put  his  impress 
on  his  pupils.  This  he  did;  but  James  Madison  is  said 
to  have  been  "the  pupil  upon  whom,  more  than  upon  any 
other,  he  seems  to  have  impressed  the  distinctive  charac- 
teristics of  his  own  mind ;  for  no  intelligent  reader,  ac- 
quainted with  their  works,  can  fail  to  remark  how  much 
the.  same  clearness  of  analytical  reasoning,  the  same  lucid 
order,  the  same  precision  and  comprehensiveness  com- 
bined, the  same  persuasive  majesty  of  truth  and  convic- 
tion clothed  in  a  terse  and  felicitous  diction,  shine  forth 
in  the  productions,  whether  written  or  spoken,  of  both. 
Such  intellectual  affinities,  joined  to  moral  worth,  could 
not  but  form  a  strong  bond  of  friendship,  and  of  mutual 
confidence,  attachment,  and  respect  between  them.  .    .    . 

"Dr.  Witherspoon  continued  to  feel  a  lively  interest  in 
the  studies  and  pursuits  of  his  pupil,  after  the  formal  con- 
nection of  the  latter  with  the  college  was  terminated. 
Young  Madison,  appreciating  at  its  just  value  the  aid  of 
so  enlightened  a  guide  and  counsellor,  and  desiring  also 
to  avail  himself  of  the  riches  of  the  college  library,  de- 
termined after  his  graduation,  to  pass  one  more  year  at 
Princeton  as  a  private  student.  The  preceptor  and  the 
pupil  were  destined  to  meet  again,  after  a  lapse  of  nine 
years,  in  the  supreme  councils  of  the  country,  as  co- 
wokers  in  the  great  cause  of  national  independence  and 
national  union. ''^ 

The  services  of  Princeton  to  Virginia  Presbyterians  in 
training  these  leaders  was  incalculable. 

This  attitude  of  Presbyterians  in  Virginia,  the  spread 
of  the  Baptists,  in  spite  of  all  the  persecutions  with  which 
they  were  afflicted,  the  growth  of  dissent  in  its  various 

*  William  C.  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  Madison,  Vol.  I.,  pp. 
24-26. 


64  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

forms,  until  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  had  become 
dissenters,  forced  upon  the  attention  of  a  still  reluctant 
legislature  the  duty  of  relieving  those  who  disagreed  with 
the  forms  and  creed  of  the  Church  of  England.  "In  the 
years  immediately  preceding  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
the  majority  of  the  legislature  were  for  toleration  in  its 
restricted  sense — an  established  church,  with  freedom 
from  legal  disabilities  to  Dissenters.  This  was  some  ad- 
vance upon  the  ideas  of  toleration  in  the  times  of  Davies ; 
but  very  far  from  the  demands  of  those  who  were  called 
Dissenters,  two  branches  of  whom  contended  that  the 
true  meaning  of  toleration  was  an  equality  of  privilege 
and  protection  to  all  denominations,  by  the  civil  powers."® 
To  appease  the  agitated  community,  a  bill  was  prepared 
in  1772,  recognizing  certain  privileges  of  Dissenters.  The 
Assembly  had  the  bill  printed  and  circulated,  that  the 
sense  of  the  people  might  be  had.  The  Presbyterians  nar- 
rowly scanned  it.  Hanover  Presbytery,  sitting  at  Rock- 
fish  meeting-house,  October  15,  1773,  "took  the  bill  of 
toleration  into  consideration,"  and  appointed  a  committee 
to  attend  the  legislature  and  advocate  their  rights.  No 
laws  were  passed,  however,  at  the  ensuing  term  of  the 
legislature,  owing  to  the  disagreement  between  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Assembly.  November  2,  1774,  the  Presby- 
tery met  in  special  session  at  the  house  of  Colonel  William 
Cabell,  of  Amherst,  to  remonstrate  against  the  bill.  Their 
paper  of  remonstrance  betrayed  great  ability  and  "ad- 
vance in  the  popular  apprehension  of  free  institutions."^ 

The  full  text  of  the  document  is : 


William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  p.  320. 
William  Wirt  Henry,  Id.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  309-10. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  65 

"  To  the  Honorable  the  Speaker  and  the  Gentlemen  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses: 

"  The  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  in  behalf  of  them- 
selves, and  all  the  Presbyterians  in  Virginia  in  particular,  and  all 
Protestant  dissenters  in  general,  humbly  showeth,  That  upon 
application  made  by  the  Rev.  Mr  James  Anderson  in  behalf  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  Honorable  Governor  Gooch,  with  the 
advice  of  the  Council,  did  in  the  year  1738,  or  about  that  time. 
for  the  encouragement  of  all  Presbyterians  who  might  incline  to 
settle  in  the  colonies,  grant  an  instrument  of  writing  under  the 
seal  of  the  colony,  containing  the  most  ample  assurances  that  they 
should  enjoy  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  all 
the  other  privileges  of  good  subjects.  Relying  upon  this  express 
stipulation,  as  well  as  upon  the  justice  and  catholic  spirit  of  the 
whole  legislative  body,  several  thousand  families  of  Presbyterians 
have  removed  from  the  Northern  provinces  into  the  fronliers  of 
this  colony,  exposed  themselves  to  a  cruel  and  savage  enemy,  and 
all  the  other  toils  and  dangers  of  settling  a  new  country,  and  soon 
became  a  barrier  to  the  former  inhabitants  who  were  settled  in 
the  more  commodious  parts  of  the  colony.  Ever  since  that  time 
we  have  been  considered  and  treated,  upon  an  equal  footing  with 
our  fellow  subjects,  nor  have  our  ministers  or  people  been  re- 
stricted in  their  religious  privileges  by  any  law  of  the  colony. 
Your  humble  petitioners  further  show,  that  with  gratitude  they 
acknowledge  the  catholic  design  of  our  late  honorable  Assembly 
to  secure  by  law  the  religious  liberties  of  all  Protestant  dissenters 
in  the  colony;  accordingly  they  did,  in  the  year  1772,  prepare 
and  print  a  Toleration  Bill,  but  as  the  subject  was  deeply  interest- 
ing, it  was  generously  left  open  for  amendment.  But,  notwith- 
standing, we  are  fully  persuaded  of  the  catholic  and  generous 
design  of  our  late  representatives;  yet  we  are  deeply  sensible 
that  some  things  in  the  above  named  bill  will  be  very  grievous 
and  burdensome  to  us  if  passed  into  a  law.  Therefore  we  humbly 
and  earnestly  pray  that  the  said  bill  may  not  be  established  with- 
out such  alterations  and  amendments  as  will  render  it  more 
agreeable  to  the  principles  of  impartial  liberty  and  sound  policy, 
which  we  presume  were  the  valuable  ends  for  which  it  was  first 
intended.  Therefore  we  humbly  beg  leave,  while  we  are  making 
the  prayer  of  our  petition  in  a  more  particular  way,  to  lay  before 
this  honorable  house  in  the  most  respectful  manner  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  bill. 


66  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

"  The  preamble  is  agreeable  to  what  we  desire,  only  we  pray 
that  the  preamble  and  every  other  part  of  the  bill  may  be  so  ex- 
pressed as  will  be  most  likely  to  obtain  the  royal  assent. 

"We  are  also  willing  that  all  our  clergymen  should  be  required 
to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance,  etc.,  usually  taken  by  civil  officers, 
and  to  declare  their  belief  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"Likewise,  as  is  required  in  the  said  bill,  we  shall  willingly 
have  all  our  churches  and  stated  places  for  public  worship  regis- 
tered, if  this  honorable  house  shall  think  proper  to  grant  it.  -But 
every  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  under  indispensable  obligations 
to  follow  the  example  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  'who  went  about 
doing  good,'  and  the  example  of  his  Apostles  who  not  only 
'taught  in  the  Temple,  but  in  every  house  where  they  came  they 
ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ.'  From  which,  and 
their  constant  practice  of  traveling  into  every  quarter  of  the 
world,  we  humbly  trust  that  it  will  appear  to  this  Assembly,  that 
we  cannot,  consistent  with  the  duties  of  our  office,  wholly  confine 
our  ministrations  to  any  place  or  number  of  places;  and  to  be 
limited  by  law  would  be  the  more  grievous,  because  in  many 
parts  of  this  colony,  even  where  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
are  Presbyterians,  it  is  not,  and  perhaps  it  may  not,  in  any  short 
time  be  easy  to  determine  where  it  would  be  the  most  expedient 
to  fix  upon  a  stated  place  for  public  worship,  and  indeed  where 
we  have  houses  for  worship  already  built,  generally  the  bounds 
of  our  congregation  are  so  very  extensive,  that  many  of  our  peo- 
ple, especially  women,  children,  and  servants  are  not  able  to  at- 
tend by  reason  of  the  distance,  which  makes  it  our  duty,  as  faith- 
ful ministers  of  Christ,  to  double  our  diligence,  and  frequently 
to  lecture  and  catechise  in  the  remote  corners  of  our  congrega- 
tions. This  restriction  would  also  be  very  grievous  to  us  in  many 
other  respects.  We  only  beg  leave  to  add :  That  the  number  of 
Presbyterians  in  this  province  is  now  very  great,  and  the  number 
of  clergymen  but  small,  therefore  we  are  obliged  frequently  to 
itinerate  and  preach  through  various  parts  of  the  colony,  that  our 
people  may  have  an  opportunity  to  worship  God  and  receive  the 
sacraments  in  the  way  agreeable  to  their  own  consciences.  As  to 
our  having  meetings  for  public  worship  in  the  night,  it  is  not  a- 
frequent  practice  among  our  churches;  yet  sometimes  we  find  it 
expedient  to  attend  night  meetings,  that  a  neighborhood  may  hear 
a  sermon  or  a  lecture,  or  be  catechised,  without  being  much  inter- 
rupted in  their  daily  labor.     And  so  long  as  our  fellow  subjects 


And  Religious  Liberty.  67 

are  permitted  to  meet  together  by  day  or  by  night,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  business  or  diversion,  we  hope  we  shall  not  be  restrained 
from  meeting  together  as  opportunity  serves  us,  upon  business  of 
all  others  the  most  important;  especially  if  it  be  considered  that 
the  Apostles  held  frequent  societies  by  night,  and  once  St.  Paul 
continued  to  speak  till  midnight;  accordingly  it  is  well  known 
that  in  city  and  collegiate  churches  evening  prayers  and  lectures 
have  long  been  esteemed  lawful  and  profitable  exercises.  As  to 
any  bad  influence  this  practice  may  have  upon  servants  or  any 
others,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  our  princi- 
ples or  way  of  worship  that  tends  to  promote  a  spirit  of  dis- 
obedience or  disorder,  but,  much  to  the  contrary;  and  if  any 
person  shall  be  detected  in  doing  or  teaching  anything  criminal 
in  this  respect,  we  presume  he  is  liable  to  punishment  by  a  law 
already  in  being;  therefore  we  pray  that  no  dissenting  minister, 
according  to  law  may  be  subjected  to  any  penalty  for  preaching 
or  teaching,  at  any  time,  or  in  any  place  in  this  colony. 

"  We  confess  it  is  easy  for  us  to  keep  open  doors  in  time  of 
divine  service,  except  in  case  of  a  storm  or  other  inclemencies  of 
the  weather;  yet  we  would  humbly  represent  that  such  a  require- 
ment implies  a  suspicion  of  our  loyalty,  and  will  fix  a  stigma 
upon  us  to  after  ages,  such  as  we  presume  our  honorable  repre- 
sentatives will  not  judge  that  we  have  anyhow  incurred;  there- 
fore we  pray  that  this  clause  may  also  be  removed  from  the  bill. 

"And  as  to  baptizing  or  receiving  servants  into  our  communion, 
we  have  always  anxiously  desired  to  do  it  with  the  permission  of 
their  masters;  but  when  a  servant  appears  to  be  a  true  penitent 
and  makes  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ,  upon  his  desire  it  is 
our  indispensable  duty  to  admit  him  into  our  church,  and  if  he 
has  never  been  baptized,  we  are  to  baptize  him  according  to  the 
command  of  Christ :  '  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you,  and  lo!  I  am  with  you  alway.  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.  Amen.'  And  wc  are  so  confidently  per- 
suaded of  the  liberal  sentiments  of  this  house,  that  in  obeying 
the  laws  of  Christ,  we  shall  never  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
disobeying  the  laws  of  our  country. 

"And,  also,  having  abundant  reasons  to  hope  that  we  shall  be 
indulged  in  every  other  thing  that  may  appear  reasonable,  your 
petitioners  further  pray: 


68  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

"  For  liberty  and  protection  in  the  discharge  of  all  the  functions 
and  duties  of  our  office  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  the 
penalties  to  be  inflicted  on  those  who  may  disturb  any  of  our 
congregations  in  the  time  of  Divine  service,  or  misuse  the 
preacher,  be  the  same  as  on  those  who  disturb  the  congregation, 
or  misuse  the  preachers  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  that  the 
dissenting  clergy,  as  well  as  the  clergy  of  the  Established  Church, 
be  excused  from  all  burdensome  offices.  All  of  which  we  con- 
ceive is  granted  in  the  English  Toleration  Act. 

"And  we  pray  for  that  freedom  in  speaking  and  writing  upon 
religious  subjects  which  is  allowed  by  law  to  every  member  of 
the  British  Empire  in  civil  affairs,  and  which  has  long  been  so 
friendly  to  the  cause  of  liberty. 

"And,  also,  we  pray  for  a  right  by  law  to  hold  estates,  and 
enjoy  donations  and  legacies  for  the  support  of  our  churches  and 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  our  youth.  Though  this  is  not 
expressed  in  the  English  Act  of  Toleration,  yet  the  greatest  law- 
yers in  England  have  pled,  and  the  best  judges  have  determined, 
that  it  is  manifestly  implied. 

"  Finally,  we  pray  that  nothing  in  the  Act  of  Toleration  may  be 
so  expressed  as  to  render  lis  suspicious  or  odious  to  our  country- 
men, with  Avhom  we  desire  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship;  but 
that  all  misdemeanors  committed  by  dissenters  may  be  punished 
by  laws  equally  binding  upon  all  our  fellow  subjects,  without  any 
regard  to  their  religious  tenets.  Or,  if  any  non-compliance  with 
the  conditions  of  the  Act  of  Toleration  shall  be  judged  to  deserve 
punishment,  we  pray  that  the  crime  may  be  accurately  defined, 
and  the  penalty  ascertained  by  the  legislature ;  and  that  neither 
be  left  to  the  discretion  of  any  magistrate,  or  court  whatsoever. 

"  May  it  please  this  honorable  Assembly,  There  are  some  other  . 
things  which  we  omit,  because  they  are  less  essential  to  the  rights 
of  conscience,  and  the  interest  of  our  Church;    we  trust  that  we 
petition  for  nothing  but  what  justice  says  ought  to  be  ours;    for 
as  ample  privileges  as  any  of  our  fellow-subjects  enjoy : 

"  To  have  and  enjoy  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  our  religion, 
without  molestation  or  danger  of  incurring  any  penalty  what- 
soever. We  are  petitioning  in  favor  of  a  Church  that  is  neither 
contemptible  nor  obscure:  It  prevails  in  every  province  to  the 
Northward  of  Maryland,  and  its  advocates  in  all  the  more  South- 
ern provinces  are  numerous  and  respectable.    The  greatest  mon- 


And  Religious  Liberty.  69 

arch  in  the  north  of  Europe  adorns  it;  it  is  the  established  re- 
ligion of  the  populous  and  wealthy  states  of  Holland ;  it  pre- 
vails in  the  wise  and  happy  cantons  of  Switzerland;  and  it  is, the 
possession,  of  Geneva,  a  state  among  the  foremost  of  those  who, 
at  the  Reformation,  emancipated  themselves  from  the  slavery  of 
Rome ;  and  some  of  the  first  geniuses  and  writers  in  every  branch 
of  literature  were  sons  of  our  Church. 

"  The  subject  is  of  such  solemn  importance  to  us,  that  compara- 
tively speaking,  our  lives  and  our  liberties  are  but  of  little  value ; 
and  the  population  of  the  country,  and  the  honor  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, as  well  as  the  interest  of  American  liberty,  are  certainly 
most  deeply  concerned  in  the  matter :  Therefore  we  would  will- 
ingly lay  before  this  honorable  house  a  more  extensive  view  of 
our  reasons  in  favor  of  an  unlimited,  impartial  toleration;  but, 
fearing  we  should  transgress  upon  the  patience  of  the  House,  we 
conclude  with  praying  that  the  all  wise,  just  and  merciful  God 
would  direct  you  in  this  and  all  your  other  important  determina- 
tions. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  Presbytery, 

'■  David  Rice,  Uoderator; 
"  Cable  Wallace.  Clerk. 
■    "At  a  session  of  the  Presbytery  in  Amherst  County,  November 
nth,  1774.'" 

These  men,  while  willing  to  have  all  their  "churches 
and  stated  places  for  worship  registered,"  petitioned  for 
freedom  to  preach,  "to  follow  the  example  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  'who  went  about  doing  good ;'  and  the  example 
of  his  Apostles,  who  not  only  'taught  in  the  temple,  but 
in  every  house  where  they  came  they  ceased  not  to  teach 
and  preach  Jesus  Christ.'  "  They  petitioned  to  be  allowed 
to  meet  whenever  they  pleased,  night  or  day ;  to  meet 
without  any  restriction,  of  evil  implication,  as  to  doors 
open  or  closed ;  that  the  dissenting  clergy  be  placed  upon 

*  This  document  was  discovered  in  the  State  Archives  by  Mr. 
William  Wirt  Henry,  and  by  him  published  in  the  Central  Pres- 
byterian, Richmond,  Va.,  in  the  issue  of  May  16,  1888. 


70  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

the  same  plane  with  regard  to  liberty,  protection,  and 
immunity  from  burdensome  offices,  with  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church;  for  unlimited  freedom  of  speech  on 
religious  subjects.  They  claimed  that  these  things  were 
granted  directly  or  by  implication  in  the  English  Tolera- 
tion Act.  They  say :  "There  are  some  other  things  which 
we  omit,  because  they  are  less  essential  to  the  rights  of 
conscience,  and  the  interest  of  our  church ;  we  trust  that 
we  petition  for  nothing  but  what  justice  says  ought  to  be 
ours ;  for  as  ample  privileges  as  any  of  our  fellow-subjects 
enjoy:  'To  have  and  enjoy  the  full  and  free  exercise  of 
our  religion,  without  molestation  or  danger  of  incurring 
any  penalty  whatsoever.'  "  Here  the  yearning  for  "im- 
partial toleration"  for  religions  liberty  is  briefly,  perhaps 
inconsistently,  but  comprehensively,  voiced.  Circum- 
stances were  about  to  arise  in  which  this  right  would  be 
more  adequately  expressed. 

The  oppressions  of  the  mother  country  were  driving 
the  colonies  into  political  revolution.  "The  Presbyterians 
of  America  were  the  earliest  and  staunchest  friends  of 
the  independence  of  the  American  colonies.  The  Scotch- 
Irish  on  the  frontiers  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  in 
the  Presbyteries  of  Hanover  and  Orange,  were  the  first 
to  advance  to  a  declaration  of  independence  of  the  mother 
country.  The  struggles  against  the  government  of  Vir- 
ginia for  their  religious  rights  had  prepared  them  for 
the  issue."'^ 

January  20,  1775,  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  of 
Southwest  Virginia  met  in  council  and  prepared  an  ad- 
dress to  the  Virginia  delegates  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, in  the  course  of  which  they  said : 

°  C.  A.  Briggs,  American  Presbyterianism,  p.  347. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  71 

"  We  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  explored  this  uncultivated  wil- 
derness, bordering  en  many  nations  of  savages  and  surrounded 
by  mountains  almost  inaccessible  to  any  but  those  very  savages, 
who  have  incessantly  been  committing  barbarities  and  depredations 
on  us  since  our  first  seating  this  country.  The  fatigues  and  dan- 
gers we  patiently  encountered  supported  by  the  pleasing  hope  of 
enjoying  those  rights  and  liberties  which  had  been  granted  to 
Virginians,  and  were  denied  us  in  our  native  country,  and  of 
transmitting  them  inviolate  to  our  posterity;  but  soon  to  these 
remote  regions  the  hand  of  unlimited  and  unconstitutional  power 
hath  pursued  us,  to  strip  us  of  that  liberty  and  property  with 
which  God,  nature,  and  the  rights  of  humanity  have  vested  us. 
We  are  ready  and  willing  to  contribute  all  in  our  power  for  the 
support  of  his  Majesty's  government  if  applied  to  constitutionally, 
and  when  the  grants  are  made  by  our  own  representatives,  but 
cannot  think  of  submitting  our  liberty  or  property  to  the  power 
of  a  venal  British  Parliament,  or  the  will  of  a  corrupt  ministry. 

"  We  by  no  means  desire  to  shake  off  our  duty  or  our  allegiance 
to  our  lawful  sovereign,  but,  on  the  contrary,  shall  ever  glory  in 
being  the  loyal  subjects  of  a  Protestant  Prince  descending  from 
such  illustrious  progenitors  as  long  as  we  can  enjoy  the  free 
exercise  of  our  religion,  as  Protestants,  and  our  liberties  and 
properties  as  British  subjects, 

"  But  if  no  pacific  measures  shall  be  proposed  or  adopted  by 
Great  Britain,  and  our  enemies  shall  attempt  to  dragoon  us  out 
of  these  inestimable  privileges  which  we  are  entitled  to  as  sub- 
jects, and  to  reduce  us  to  a  state  of  slavery,  we  declare  that  we 
are  deliberately  and  resolutely  determined  never  to  surrender 
them  to  any  power  upon  earth,  but  at  the  expense  of  our  lives. 

"  These  are  our  real,  though  unpolished,  sentiments  of  liberty 
and  loyalty,  and  in  them  we  are  resolved  to  live  and  die."  ^° 

The  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  of  Mecklenburg  County, 
North  CaroHna,  through  their  county  committee,  May  31, 
■1775,  went  even  further.  They  passed  certain  resohitions, 
implying  at  least  temporary  independence : 


"Thomas  L.   Preston,  Historical  Sketches  and  Reminiscences 
of  an  Octogenarian,  pp.  27,  28. 


72  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

"All  laws  and  commissions  confirmed  by  or  derived  from  the 
authority  of  the  King  or  Parliament  are  annulled  and  vacated. 
All  commissions,  civil  and  military,  heretofore  granted  by  the 
crown  to  be  exercised  in  the  colonies  are  void;  the  provincial 
congress  of  each  province,  under  the  direction  of  the  great  Conti- 
nental Congress,  is  invested  with  all  legislative  and  executive 
powers  within  the  respective  provinces,  and  no  other  legislative 
or  executive  power  does  or  can  exist  at  this  time  in  any  part  of 
these  colonies.  As  all  former  laws  are  now  suspended  in  this 
province,  and  the  congress  has  not  yet  provided  others,  we  judge 
it  necessary,  for  the  better  preservation  of  good  order,  to  form 
certain  rules  and  regulations  for  the  internal  government  of  this 
countr}^,  until  its  laws  shall  be  provided  for  us  by  the  congress."  " 

Though  the  Presbyterians  of  New  York,  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  acted  more  slowly,  they  reached  the 
same  goal : 

"  The  friends  of  the  British  Government  in  New  York  were 
found  only  on  the  surface.  The  Dutch-Americans  formed  the 
basis  of  the  population,  and  were  animated  by  the  example  of 
their  fathers,  who  had  proved  to  the  world  that  a  small  people 
under  great  discouragements  can  found  a  republic.  By  tempera- 
ment moderate  but  inflexible,  little  noticed  by  the  government, 
they  kept  themselves  noiselessly  in^reserve.  The  settlers  in  New 
York  from  New  England  and  the  mechanics  of  the  city  were 
almost  to  a  man  enthusiasts  for  resistance.  The  landed  aris- 
tocracy was  divided,  but  the  Dutch  and  the  Scotch  Presbyterians, 
especially  Schuyler  of  Albany  and  the  aged  Livingston  of  Rhine- 
beck,  never  hesitated  to  risk  their  estates  in  the  cause  of  inherited 
freedom.  In  no  colony  did  English  dominion  find  less  of  the 
sympathy  of  the  people  than  in  New  York."  " 

In  New  Jersey  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Reformed  In 
a  body    struck  for  liberty.     Indeed,  throughout  the  colo- 

"  George  Bancroft,  History  of  United  States,  IV.,  p.  197 ;  Wil- 
liam Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of  Patrick 
Henry,  Vol.  I,  pp.  2,67  ff. 

"George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  IV.,  p.  130, 
eJ  seq. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  73 

nies,  two  ministers  in  New  England  and  the  Highlanders 
settled  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mohawk  in  New  York  and 
on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  in  North  Carolina,  excepted, 
Presbyterians  arose  as  one  man  far  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  colonies. 

The  American  Presbyterians,  as  represented  by  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  hesitated  aboai 
breaking  with  the  mother  country.  Distinguishing  be- 
tween the  minii-try  and  the  crown,  they  t.  deavored  for  3 
time  to  maintain  their  allegiance  to  the  monarch  while 
shaking  off  that  of  the  ministry.^. 

In  a  pastoral  letter  of  May  20,  1775,  the  Synod  says : 

"  First.  In  carrying  on  this  important  struggle,  let  every  oppor- 
tunity be  taken  to  express  your  attachment  and  respect  to  our 
sovereign.  King  George,  and  to  the  revolution  principles  by  which 
his  august  family  was  seated  on  the  British  throne.  We  recom- 
mend, indeed,  not  only  allegiance  to  him  from  duty  and  principle, 
as  the  first  magistrate  of  the  empire,  but  esteem  and  reverence 
for  the  person  of  the  prince,  who  has  merited  well  of  his  subjects 
on  many  accounts,  and  who  has  probably  been  misled  into  the  late 
and  present  measures  by  those  about  him;  neither  have  we  any 
doubt  that  they  themselves  have  been  in  a  great  degree  deceived  by 
false  information  from  interested  persons  residing  in  America.  It 
gives  us  the  greatest  pleasure  to  say,  from  our  own  certain 
knowledge  of  all  belonging  to  our  communion,  and  from  the  best 
means  of  information,  of  the  far  greatest  part  of  all  denomina- 
tions in  this  country,  that  the  present  opposition  to  the  measures 
of  administration  does  not  in  the  least  arise  from  dissaflfection 
to  the  King,  or  a  desire  of  separation  from  the  parent  state.  We 
are  happy  in  being  able  with  truth  to  affirm,  that  no  part  of 
America  would  either  have  approved  or  committed  such  insults 
as  have  been  offered  to  the  sovereign  in  Great  Britain.  We  ex- 
hort you,  therefore,  to  continue  in  the  same  disposition,  and  not 
to  suffer  oppression,  or  injury  itself,  easily  to  provoke  you  to 
anything  which  may  seem  to  betray  contrary  sentiments ;  let 
it  ever  appear,  that  you  only  desire  the  preservation  and  security 
of  those  rights  which  belong  to  you  as  freemen  and  Britons,  and 
that  reconciliation  upon  these  terms  is  your  most  ardent  desire. 


74  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

"  Secondly.  Be  careful  to  maintain  the  union,  which  at  present 
subsists  through  all  the  colonies;  nothing  can  be  more  manif  st 
than  that  the  success  of  every  measure  depends  on  its  being  in- 
violably preserved,  and  therefore,  we  hope  that  you  will  leave 
nothing  undone  which  can  promote  that  end.  In  particular,  as  the 
Continental  Congress,  now  sitting  in  Philadelphia,  consists  of 
delegates  chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiased  manner,  by  the 
body  of  the  people,  let  them  not  only  be  treated  with  respect,  and 
encouraged  in  their  difficult  service — not  only  let  your  prayers 
be  offered  up  to  God  for  his  direction  in  their  proceedings — but 
adhere  firmly  to  their  resolutions;  and  let  it  be  seen  that  they 
are  able  to  bring  out  the  whole  strength  of  this  vast  country  to 
carry  them  into  execution.  We  would  also  advise  for  the  same 
purpose,  that  a  spirit  of  candor,  charity,  and  mutual  esteem,  be 
preserved  and  promoted  toward  those  of  different  religious  de- 
nominations. Persons  of  probity  and  principle  of  every  profes- 
sion should  be  united  together  as  servants  of  the  same  master, 
and  the  experience  of  our  happy  concord  hitherto  in  a  state  of 
liberty  should  engage  all  to  unite  in  support  of  the  common  in- 
terest; for  there  is  no  example  in  history,  in  which  civil  liberty 
was  destroyed,  and  the  rights  of  conscience  preserved  entire."  " 

In  a  short  while  it  became  clear  that  the  colonies  should 
become  independent  of  the  mother  country.  John  Wither- 
spoon,  the  only  minister  in  the  Continental  Congress,  gave 
the  Presbyterian  voice  for  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence: 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men,  a  nick  of  time.  We  per- 
ceive it  now  before  us.  To  hesitate  is  to  consent  to  our  own 
slavery.  That  noble  instrument  upon  your  table  which  insures 
immortality  to  its  author  should  be  subscribed  this  very  morning 
by  every  pen  in  this  house.  He  that  will  not  respond  to  its  accents 
and  strain  every  nerve  to  carry  into  effect  its  provisions  is  un- 
worthy the  name  of  freeman.  .  .  .  For  my  own  part,  of  property 
I  have  some,  of  reputation  more.  That  reputation  is  staked,  that 
property  is  pledged  on  the  issue  of  this  contest,  and  although  these 
gray  hairs  must  soon  descend  into  the  sepulchre,  I  would  infi- 

"  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  467-468. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  75 

nitely  rather  that  they  descend  thither  by  the  hand  of  the  execu- 
tioner than  desert  at  this  crisis  the  sacred  cause  of  my  country."  " 

Presbyterians  supported  their  brave  resolutions  by  cor- 
responding behavior  during  the  long  years  of  tlie  war. 
Of  Presbyterian  ministers,  John  Witherspoon  did  valuable 
service  as  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  George 
Duffield  was  one  of  its  two  chaplains.  "John  Rodgers, 
of  New  York,  was  chaplain  of  Heath's  Brigade ;  James 
Caldwell,  of  Elizabethtown,  of  the  New  Jersey  Brigade ; 
Alexander  McWhorter,  of  Knox's  Brigade;  James  F. 
Armstrong,  of  the  Second  Maryland  Brigade;  Adam 
Boyd,  of  the  North  Carolina  Brigade;  Daniel  McCall,  of 
the  Expedition  to  Canada.  Jacob  Green  was  a  member 
of  the  Congress  of  New  Jersey;  Henry  Patillo,  of  that 
of  North  Carolina;  William  Tennent,  of  that  of  South 
Carolina ;  John  Murray,  of  that  of  Massachusetts ;  David 
Caldwell  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  of  North 
Carolina  of  1776,  which  drew  up  its  constitution;  Abra- 
ham Kettletas,  of  the  Convention  of  New  York.  James 
Hall,  of  Iredell,  N.  C,  was  a  captain  of  a  cavalry  com- 
pany, as  well  as  chaplain  of  a  regiment."^^ 

In  the  province  of  South  Carolina,  Presbyterian  elders 
took  a  most  active  part  in  the  War  of  Independence. 

"The  battles  of  the  'Cowpens,'  of  'King's  Mountain,' 
and  also  the  severe  skirmish  known  as  'Huck's  Defeat,' 
are  among  the  most  celebrated  in  this  State  as  giving  a 
turning  point  to  the  contests  of  the  Revolution.  General 
Morgan,  who  commanded  at  the  Cowpens,  was  a  Pres- 
byterian elder,  and  lived  and  died  in  the  communion  of 
the  church.  General  Pickens,  who  made  all  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  battle,  was  also  a  Presbyterian  elder,  and 

"W.  P.  Breed,  Presbyterians  and  the  Revolution,  p.  166. 
"  C.  A.  Briggs,  American  Presbyterians,  p.  352. 


^6  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

nearly  all  under  their  command  were  Presbyterians.  In 
the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  Colonel  Campbell,  Colonel 
James  Williams  (who  fell  in  action),  Colonel  Cleaveland, 
Colonel  Shelby  and  Colonel  Sevier,  were  all  Presbyterian 
elders;  and  the  body  of  their  troops  were  collected  from 
Presbyterian  settlements.  At  Huck's  Defeat  in  York, 
Colonel  Bratton  and  Major  Dickson  were  both  elders  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Major  Samuel  Morrow,  who 
was  with  Colonel  Sumpter  in  four  engagements,  and  at 
King's  Mountain,  Blackstock  and  other  battles,  and 
whose  home  was  in  the  army  till  the  termination  of  hos- 
tilities, was  for  about  fifty  years  a  ruling  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  It  may  also  be  mentioned  in  this 
connection  that  Marion,  Huger,  and  other  distinguished 
men  of  Revolutionary  memory,  were  of  Huguenot — that 
is,  of  fuU-blooded  Presbyterian — descent."^® 

Presbyterians  elsewhere,  with  the  exceptions  already 
noted,  and  the  Dutch  Reformed,  were  behaving  with  equal 
patriotism  and  devotion.  They  felt  that  the  Revolution- 
ary War  was  a  war  for  religious  as  well  as  for  civil  lib- 
erty. This,  in  part,  explains  their  singular  devotion  to 
the  patriotic  cause.  The  progress  of  the  Revolution  was 
favorable  to  the  increase  of  religious  liberty.  It  presented 
the  "favorable  juncture"  for  which  Davies  had  longed, 
as  an  occasion  on  which  Presbyterians  might  "petition 
for  the  enlargement  of  our  liberties."  Presbyterians 
quickly  took  advantage  of  the  "juncture,"  as  will  appear 
in  the  sequel. 

May  15,  1776,  the  Virginia  Convention  assembled  at 
Williamsburg,  declared  that  no  alternative  was  left,  "hut 
abject  submission  to  the  zvill  of  those  overbearing  tyrants, 

"  Thomas  Smythe,  Presbyterianism,  the  Revolution,  the  Decla- 
ration, and  the  Constitution,  pp.  32iif. ;  Briggs,  American  Presby- 
terians, p.  355. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  jy 

or  a  total  separation  from  the  crozvn  and  government  of 
Great  Britain."  The  Convention  instructed  the  Virginia 
delegates  in  the  Continental  Congress  to  propose  to  that 
body,  "to  declare  the  united  colonies  free  and  independent 
States."  June  12,  the  Convention  adopted  a  Bill  of  Rights, 
and,  June  29th,  a  Constitution.  The  last  clause  of  the  Bill 
of  Rights  adopted    is  in  these  words : 

"  That  religion,  or  the  duty  we  owe  our  Creator,  and  the  man- 
ner of  discharging  it,  can  be  directed  only  by  reason  and  convic- 
tion, not  by  force  or  violence,  and  therefore  all  men  are  equally 
entitled  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the  dictates 
of  conscience,  and  that  it  is  the  mutual  duty  of  all  to  practice 
Christian  forbearance,  love  and  charity  toward  each  other." 

These  v^ord  were,  in  the  main,  from  the  draft  of  tire 
Bill  of  Rights  presented  by  the  celebrated  George  Mason, 
a  member  of  the  Established  Church.  The  section,  in 
Mason's  draft  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  on  religion,  was  con- 
tributed by  Patrick  Henry,  who,  according  to  Mr.  Ed- 
mund Randolph,  was  appealed  to  to  say  "whether  it  was 
designed  as  a  prelude  to  an  attack  on  the  Established 
Church. "^^  This  Mr.  Henry  disclaimed.  One  clause  only 
in  the  Henry-Mason  draft  received  a  material  amendment. 
In  their  draft  it  was  written  that  all  should  enjoy  the 
fullest  toleration  in  the  exercise  of  religion.  Their  state- 
ment of  the  rights  of  conscience  is  very  like  that  of  the 
Independents  in  the  Westminster  Assembly ;  and  the  word 
toleration  is  used  in  a  liberal  sense,  implying  non-inter- 
ference of  the  State  with  the  Church ;  nevertheless,  the 
word  toleration,  strictly  speaking,  implies  a  power  in  the 
civil  government  to  interfere  with  religion.  "A  young 
man,  then  unknown  to  fame,  of  bright  hazel  eyes,  inclining 

"  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry  Vol.  I.,  p.  430.  See,  however,  William  C.  Rives, 
Life  and  Times  of  Madison,  Vol.  I.,  p.  138. 


78  Virginia  PREgBYXERiANiSM 

to  gray,  small  in  stature,  light  in  person,  delicate  in  ap- 
pearance, a  pallid,  sickly  scholar  in  an  assembly  of  the 
most  robust  men,  proposed  an  amendment.  He  was 
James  Madison,  the  son  of  an  Orange  County  planter, 
bred  in  the  school  of  Presbyterian  Dissenters,  under  With- 
erspoon,  at  Princeton;  trained  by  his  own  studies,  by 
meditative  rural  life  in  the  Old  Dominion,  by  an  ingenuous 
indignation  at  the  persecution  of  the  Baptists,  and  by 
the  innate  principles  of  right,  to  uphold  the  sanctity  of 
religious  freedom.  He  objected  to  the  word  'toleration,' 
because  it  implied  an  established  religion,  which  endured 
dissent  only  as  a  condescension;  and,  as  the  earnestness 
of  his  conviction  overcame  his  modesty,  he  proceeded  to 
demonstrate  that  'all  men  are  equally  entitled  to  the  free 
exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the  dictates  of  con- 
science.' His  motion,  which  did  but  state  with  better 
dialectics  the  very  purpose  which  Mason  [and  Henry] 
wished  to  accomplish,  obtained  the  suffrages  of  his  col- 
leagues."^^ 

Notwithstanding  the  clearness  of  this  declaration  con- 
cerning the  right  of  every  man  to  religious  liberty,  it 
seems  not  to  have  been  well-understood  even  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly,  as  subsequent  history  made  clear. 

By  the  subsequent  legislation  of  the  State,  the  principle 
was  to  be  developed  into  absolute  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  was  in  no  long  time  to  be  engrafted  upon  every 
State  Constitution,  and  upon  the  Federal  Constitution. 
This  great  principle  is  now  considered  "the  chief  corner- 
stone of  the  American  system  of  government,"  peculiarly 
American  and  its  "contribution  to  the  science  of  govern- 
ment."   The  principle  of  religious  freedom  is  clearly  in- 

"  George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  IV.,  pp.  416, 
et  seq.;  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  Madison,  I.,  pp.  140,  et  seq. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  79 

volved  in  the  teaching  of  Christ.  But  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury Christianity  became,  by  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  and  his  substitution  of  the  Christian  for  the  old 
heathen  rehgions,  closely  united  to  the  State — the  State's 
religion,  indeed. 

The  principles  of  the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury involved  that  of  universal  religious  freedom ;  but, 
owing  to  the  desire  of  the  Reformers  for  protection,  the 
most  of  them  practically  rather  strengthened  the  power  of 
those  Protestant  rulers  who  were  of  their  faith.  But  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  was  a  great  evil.  The  inter- 
ference of  European  civil  governments  with  the  con- 
sciences of  men  filled  America  with  immigrants.  Yet  so 
inveterate  was  the  bias  in  favor  of  the  union  of  Church 
and  State  that  these  very  immigrants  who  had  fled  from 
intolerance,  showed  little  disposition  to  tolerate  dissent 
from  their  views  when  they  had  established  themselves  in 
power  in  the  New  World.  The  most  liberal  colonies  were 
those  founded  by  Lord  Baltimore,  William  Penn  and 
Roger  Williams,  to  each  of  whom  self-interest  dictated 
this  liberality,  however  some  of  them  may  have  been 
moved  by  other  considerations.  They  advocated  also  only 
a  circumscribed  liberality.  "Baltimore  only  professed 
to  make  'free  soil  for  Christianity.'  Penn  only  tolerated 
those  who  believed  in  'one  Almighty  and  Eternal  God,  the 
Creator,  Upholder,  and  Ruler  of  the  world;'  and  denied 
the  right  to  hold  office  to  all  except  Christians.  Williams' 
charter  was  expressly  to  propagate  Christianity,  and  under 
it  a  law  was  enacted  excluding  all  except  Christians  from 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  and  including,  in  the  exclusion, 
Roman  Catholics. 

"At  the  date  of  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights,  although 
more  than  one  sect  had  claimed  religious  freedom,  and  an 
absolute  divorce  of  Church  and  State,  no  civil  government 


8o  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

had  ever  allowed  the  claim.  Virginia  led  the  way  in  in- 
corporating into  the  very  foundation  of  her  government 
the  principle  upon  which  religious  liberty  is  based,  and  in 
doing  so,  completed  the  great  reformation  commenced  in 
the  sixteenth  century.''" 

This  work  was,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  chiefly  by 
Patrick  Henry  and  James  Madison.  Mr.  Henry's  hand 
was  the  foremost  one.  Mr.  Madison's  work  was  impor- 
tant. They  were  each  chiefly  indebted  to  Presbyterians 
for  their  fitting  for  these  great  services. 

To  return  to  the  year  1776.  The  principle  of  religious 
freedom  had  been  expressed  in  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights, 
but  it  remained  to  give  the  principle  practical  expression 
in  the  laws  and  life  of  the  State.  October  7,  1776,  the 
General  Assembly  convened  for  the  first  time  under  the 
new  Constitution.  At  an  early  date  it  entered  upon  the 
consideration  of  religious  freedom.  Petitions  began  to 
rain  upon  it.  "October  nth,  a  petition  from  Sundry  In- 
habitants of  Prince  Edward,  that  without  delay  all  church 
establishments  might  be  pulled  down,  and  every  tax  upon 
conscience  and  private  judgment  abolished,  and  each  in- 
dividual left  to  rise  or  sink  by  his  own  merit  and  the  gen- 
eral laws  of  the  land;"  October  i6th,  a  petition  from 
Dissenters  from  the  Ecclesiastical  Establishment,  that 
"having  long  groaned  under  the  burden  of  an  ecclesiastical 
establishment,"  this,  as  well  as  every  other  yoke,  may  be 
broken,  and  that  the  oppressed  may  go  free,  that  so  every 
religious  denomination  being  on  a  level,  animosities  may 
cease,  and  Christian  forbearance,  love,  and  charity,  prac- 
ticed toward  each  other,  while  the  legislature  interferes 
only  to  protect  them  in  their  just  and  equal  privileges; 

"William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  432-434 ;  Justin  Winsor,  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,  Vol.  III.,  p.  379. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  Si 

October  22,  two  petitions  from  Dissenters  in  Albemarle, 
Amherst  and  Buckingham,  complaining  of  the  inequalities 
under  which  they  had  labored  in  being  required  to  support 
the  establishment,  prayed  that  every  religious  denomina- 
tion might  be  put  upon  an  equal  footing;  October  22nd, 
a  petition  from  Lutherans,  "praying  that  they  be  exempted 
from  the  further  payment  of  parochial  charges,  other 
than  to  support  their  own  church  and  poor,  and  that  their 
ministers  may  have  equal  rights  and  privileges  with  their 
brethren  in  Pennsylvania,  or  the  Established  Church 
ministers  in  Virginia,  so  far  as  may  extend  to  the  mem- 
bers of  their  church  only;"  October  24,  A  Memorial  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  to  which  return  will  presently 
be  made ;  October  25th,  two  petitions  from  the  Dissenters 
from  the  Church  of  England,  "praying  that  the  ecclesias- 
tical establishment  may  be  suspended  or  laid  aside;" 
October  28th,  a  petition  from  the  Methodists,  claiming  to 
be  a  society  in  communion  with  the  Church  of  England, 
and  praying  "that  the  Church  of  England  as  it  hath 
ever  been,  may  still  continue  to  be  the  established  church  ;" 
November  8,  a  memorial  of  a  considerable  number  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Established  Church,  pleading  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Establishment ;  November  9th,  a  memorial 
from  the  Comity  Committee  for  Augusta  County,  ex- 
pressing their  grievance  at  "being  obliged  to  contribute  to 
the  support  of  the  Established  Church,"  "and  praying 
such  speedy  and  immediate  relief  as  may  best  correspond 
with  Christian  liberty,  and  those  noble  sentiments  which 
should  animate  every  virtuous  Americaiv"-"  This  Augusta 
memorial  was  from  a  Presbyterian  centre.  So  was  the 
Prince  Edward  petition.  Others  of  them  betray  a  Pres- 
byterian hand  in  their  shaping.     "The  Memorial  of  the 

'"  C.  F.  James,  Id.,  pp.  68-77. 


82  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Presbytery  of  Hanover  that  was  read  on  the  24th  of 
October,  received  very  considerate  attention,  occupying  a 
full  page  in  the  Journal  of  Proceedings — a  compliment 
which  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  its  substance  was 
ably  argumentative  and  its  tone  was  courtly  and  re- 
spectful."^^" It  was  the  paper  of  breadth  of  view,  grasp 
of  pertinent  truth  and  argumentative  force.  A  compari- 
son of  this  memorial,  together  with  that  of  the  Presbytery, 
against  a  general  assessment,  which  bears  date  April  25, 
1777*  ^nd  which  will  appear  later  in  this  sketch,  with  Mr. 
Jefferson's  famous  "Bill  for  Establishing  Religious  Free- 
dom," reveals  the  fact,  that  the  Presbytery,  representing 
the  Presbyterians  of  the  State,  had  expressed  with  re- 
markable precision  and  force,  the  proper  relations  of 
Church  and  State,  before  the  great  statesman  had  drafted 
his  act  defining  those  relations,  and  that  the  act  was  no 
advance  on  the  positions  taken  by  the  Presbytery."^^ 

The  Memorial  of  1776  is  as  follows : 

"■  To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia : 

"  The  Memorial  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  humbly  repre- 
sents, That  your  memoriahsts  are  governed  by  the  same  senti- 
ments which  have  inspired  the  United  States  of  America;  and 
are  determined  that  nothing  in  our  power  and  influence  shall  be 
wanting  to  give  success  to  their  common  cause.  We  would  also 
represent,  that  dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England,  in  this 
country,  have  ever  been  desirous  to  conduct  themselves  as  peace- 
able members  of  the  civil  government,  for  which  reason  they  have 
hitherto  submitted  to  several  ecclesiastical  burdens  and  restric- 
tions, that  are  inconsistent  with  equal  liberty.  But  now,  when 
the  many  and  grievous  oppressions  of  our  mother  country  have 
laid  this  continent  under  the  necessity  of  casting  off  the  yoke  of 
tyranny,  and  of  forming  independent  governments  upon  equitable 

"  William  H.  Whitsitt,  Life  and  Times  of  Judge  Caleb  Wallace. 
^William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  498-499. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  83 

and  liberal  foundations,  we  flatter  ourselves  that  we  shall  be  freed 
from  all  the  encumbrances  which  a  spirit  of  domination,  preju- 
dice, or  bigotry,  hath  interwoven  with  most  other  political  sys- 
tems. This  we  are  the  more  strongly  encouraged  to  expect,  by 
the  Declaration  of  Rights,  so  universally  applauded  for  that  dig- 
nity, firmness  and  precision  with  which  it  delineates  and  asserts 
the  privileges  of  society,  and  the  prerogatives  of  human  nature; 
and  which  we  embrace  as  the  magna  charta  of  our  common- 
wealth, that  can  never  be  violated  without  endangering  the  grand 
superstructure  it  was  destined  to  sustain.  Therefore  we  rely  upon 
this  Declaration,  as  well  as  the  justice  of  our  honorable  Legisla- 
ture, to  secure  us  the  free  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the 
dictates  of  our  consciences;  and  we  should  fall  short  in  our  duty 
to  ourselves  and  the  many  and  numerous  congregations  under  our 
care,  were  we,  upon  this  occasion,  to  neglect  laying  before  you 
a  state  of  the  religious  grievances  under  which  we  have  hitherto 
labored;  that  they  may  no  longer  be  continued  in  our  present 
form  of  government. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  in  the  frontier  counties,  which  are  justly 
supposed  to  contain  a  fifth  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia,  the 
dissenters  have  borne  the  heavy  burdens  of  purchasing  glebes, 
building  churches,  and  supporting  the  established  clergy,  where 
there  are  very  few  Episcopalians,  either  to  assist  in  bearing  the 
expense,  or  to  reap  the  advantage ;  and  that  throughout  the  othei 
parts  of  the  country,  there  are  also  many  thousands  of  zealous 
friends  and  defenders  of  our  State,  who,  besides  the  invidious 
and  disadvantageous  restrictions  to  which  they  have  been  sub- 
jected, annually  pay  large  taxes  to  support  an  establishment,  from 
which  their  consciences  and  principles  oblige  them  to  dissent:  all 
which  are  confessedly  so  many  violations  of  their  natural  rights ; 
and  in  their  conseqiaence_s,  a  restraint  upon  freedom  of  inquiry, 
and  private  judgment. 

"  In  this  enlightened  age,  and  in  a  land  where  all,  of  every 
denomination,  are  united  in  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  be  free, 
we  hope  and  expect  that  our  representatives  will  cheerfully  con- 
cur in  removing  every  species  of  religious  as  well  as  civil  bond- 
age. Certain  it  is,  that  every  argument  for  civil  liberty,  gains 
additional  strength  when  applied  to  liberty  in  the  concerns  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  there  is  no  argument  in  favor  of  establishing  the 
Christian  religion,  but  what  may  be  pleaded,  with  equal  propriety 
for  establishing  the  tenets  of  Mahommed  by  those  who  believe  the 


84  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Aleoran;  or,  if  this  be  not  true,  it  is  at  least  impossible  for  the 
magistrate  to  adjudge  the  right  of  preference  among  the  various 
sects  that  profess  the  Christian  faith,  without  erecting  a  chair 
of  infallibility,  which  would  lead  us  back  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 

"  We  beg  leave  farther  to  represent,  that  religious  establish- 
ments are  highly  injurious  to  the  temporal  interests  of  any  com- 
munity. Without  insisting  upon  the  ambition,  and  the  arbitrary 
practices  of  those  who  are  favored  by  government;  or  the  intri- 
guing seditious  spirit,  which  is  commonly  excited  by  this,  as  well 
as  every  other  kind  of  oppression;  such  establishments  greatly 
retard  .population,  and  consequently  the  progress  of  arts,  sciences, 
and  manufactures:  witness  the  rapid  growth  and  improvements 
of  the  Northern  provinces,  compared  with  this.  No  one  can  deny 
that  the  more  early  settlement,  and  the  many  superior  advantages 
of  our  country,  would  have  invited  multitudes  of  artificers, 
mechanics  and  other  useful  members  of  society,  to  fix  their  habi- 
tation among  us,  who  have  either  remained  in  their  place  of 
nativity,  or  preferred  worse  civil  governments,  and  a  more  barren 
soil,  where  they  might  enjoy  the  rights  of  conscience  more  fully 
than  they  had  a  prospect  of  doing  in  this.  From  which  we  infer 
that  Virginia  might  have  now  been  the  capital  of  America,  and  a 
match  for  the  British  arms,  without  depending  on  others  for  the 
necessaries  of  war,  had  it  not  been  prevented  by  her  religious  es- 
tablishment. 

"  Neither  can  it  be  made  to  appear  that  the  Gospel  needs  any 
such  civil  aid.  We  rather  conceive  that  when  our  blessed  Saviour 
declares  his  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  He  renounces  all  de- 
pendence upon  state  power,  and  as  His  weapons  arc  spiritual, 
and  were  only  designed  to  have  influence  on  the  judgment  and 
heart  of  man,  we  are  persuaded  that  if  mankind  were  left  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  their  unalienable  rights  and  privileges,  Chris- 
tianity, as  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  would  continue  to  prevail 
and  flourish  in  the  greatest  purity,  by  its  own  native  excellence, 
and  under  the  all-disposing  Providence  of  God. 

"  We  would  humbly  represent,  that  the  only  proper  objects  of 
civil  government  are  the  happiness  and  protection  of  men  in  the 
present  state  of  existence;  the  security  of  the  life,  liberty  and 
property  of  the  citizens;  and  to  restrain  the  vicious  and  encour- 
age the  virtuous  by  wholesome  laws,  equally  extending  to  every 
individual.  But  that  the  duty  which  zve  owe  our  Creator,  and  the 
manner  of  discliarging  it,  can  only  be   directed  by  reason  and 


And  Religious  Liberty.  85 

conviction;   and  is  nowhere  cognizable  but  at  the  tribunal  of  the 
universal  Judge. 

"  Therefore  we  ask  no  ecclesiastical  establishments  for  our- 
selves; neither  can  we  approve  of  them  when  granted  to  others. 
This  indeed  would  be  giving  exclusive  or  separate  emoluments 
or  privileges  to  the  one  set  (or  sect)  of  men,  without  any  special 
public  services,  to  the  common  reproach  and  injury  of  every  other 
denomination.  And  for  the  reasons  recited  we  are  induced  earn- 
estly to  entreat,  that  all  laws  now  in  force  in  this  commonwealth 
which  countenance  religious  domination,  may  be  speedily  repealed 
— that  all,  of  every  religious  sect,  may  be  protected  in  the  full 
exercise  of  their  several  modes  of  worship;  and  exempted  from 
all  taxes  for  the  support  of  any  church  whatsoever,  further  than 
what  may  be  agreeable  to  their  own  private  choice,  or  voluntary 
obligation.  This  being  done,  all  partial  and  invidious  distinctions 
will  be  abolished,  to  the  great  honor  and  interest  of  the  State; 
and  every  one  be  left  to  stand  or  fall  according  to  merit,  which 
can  never  be  the  case,  so  long  as  any  one  denomination  is  estab- 
lished in  preference  to  others. 

"  That  the  great  Sovereign  of  the  Universe  may  inspire  you 
with  unanimity,  wisdom  and  resolution  and  bring  you  to  a  just 
determination  on  all  the  important  concerns  before  you  is  the 
fervid  prayer  of  your  memorialists. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  Presbytery. 

"  John  Todd,  Moderator. 

"  Caleb  Wallace,  P.  Clerk."  "^ 

The  Rev.  Caleb  Wallace  is  believed  to  have  written  the 
memorial.  He  was  sent  by  the  Presbytery  to  Williams- 
btirg  to  push  the  views  of  the  Presbytery  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature,  which  he  seems  to  have  done  with 
great  ability.  In  addition  to  other  means,  he  appears  to 
have  availed  himself  of  the  columns  of  the  Virginia  Ga- 

-^  This  memorial  is  still  preserved  in  the  Virginia  archives. 
Copies  may  be  found  in  William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia, 
PP-  323,  324;  in  William  H.  Whitsitt,  Life  and  Times  of  Judge 
Caleb  Wallace,  pp.  47-49 ;  C.  F.  James,  The  Struggle  for  Religious 
Liberty  in  Virginia,  pp.  222-225. 


86  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

zette,  November  8th,  1776,  to  set  forth,  in  a  paper  entitled 
Queries  on  the  Subject  of  Religious  Establishments,  one 
of  the  ablest  performances  within  the  range  of  the  entire 
Hterature  of  the  struggle  for  religious  freedom  in  Vir- 
ginia."'* 

Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson  regarded  the  enforced  support 
of  the  Established  Church  upon  Dissenters  who  believed 
the  Establishment  to  be  erroneous  in  important  particu- 
lars, as  an  unrighteous  compulsion.  He  was  the  leading 
champion,  in  the  Assembly  of  1776,  of  religious  freedom. 
He  gave,  long  afterwards,  the  following  account,  er- 
roneous in  regard  to  certain  features-^  of  the  struggle,  but 
trustworthy  in  regard  to  the  results,  of  the  contest  which 
he  and  iiis  party  waged : 

"  The  first  Republican  Legislature,  which  met  in  1776,  was 
crowded  with  petitions  to  abolish  this  spiritual  tyranny.  These 
brought  on  the  severest  contest  in  which  I  have  ever  been  en- 
gaged. Our  great  opponents  were  Mr.  Pendleton  and  Robert 
Carter  Nicholas;  honest  men,  but  zealous  churchmen.  The  peti- 
tions were  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the 
State  of  the  Country;  and  after  desperate  contests  in  that  com- 
mittee, almost  daily  from  the  nth  of  October  to  the  Sth  of  De- 
cember, we  prevailed  so  far  only,  as  to  repeal  the  laws  which 
rendered  criminal  the  maintenance  of  any  religious  opinions,  the 
forbearance  of  repairing  to  church,  or  the  exercise  of  any  mode 
of  worship ;  and,  further,  to  exempt  dissenters  from  contributions 
to  the  support  of  the  Established  Church;  and  to  suspend  only 
until  the  next  session,  levies  on  the  members  of  that  church  for 
the  salaries  of  their  own  incumbents.  For,  although  a  majority 
of  our  citizens  were  dissenters,  the  majority  of  the  Legislature 
were  churchmen.  Among  these,  however,  were  some  reasonable 
and  liberal  men,  who  enabled  us  on  some  points  to  obtain  feeble 

*■•  William  H.  Whitsitt,  Life  and  Times  of  Judge  Caleb  Wallace, 
PP-  43-47- 

^  Cf.  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches 
of  Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  L,  p.  493,  et  seq. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  87 

majorities.  But  our  opponents  carried,  in  the  general  resolutions, 
of  the  committee  of  November  19th,  a  declaration  that  religions 
ought  to  be  regulated,  and  that  provision  ought  to  be  made  for 
continuing  the  succession  of  the  clergy,  and  superintending  their 
conduct."  '" 

On  suspending  the  tax  for  the  support  of  the  ministers 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  legislature  of  1776  invited, 
an  expression  of  the  public  opinion  on  the  question  of  a 
general  assessment  for  the  support  of  religion.  The 
earliest  expression  of  opinion  in  response  to  this  invitation, 
which  posterity  has  thought  worthy  of  preservation,  and 
the  ablest  given  in  all  years  while  the  question  was  open — 
the  one  that  continued  to  represent  the  voice  of  the  Pres- 
byterian people,  is  the  following  paper  drafted  by  Revs. 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  and  David  Rice,  and  presented 
to  the  House  of  Delegates,  June  3,  1777: 

"  To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia : 

'•  The  memorial  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  humbly  repre- 
sents, that  your  memorialists  and  the  religious  denomination  with 
which  we"  are  connected,  are  most  sincerely  attached  to  the  com- 
mon interests  of  the  American  States,  and  are  determined  that 
our  most  fervent  prayers  and  strenuous  endeavors  shall  ever  be 
united  with  our  fellow-subjects  to  repel  the  assaults  of  tyranny 
and  to  maintain  our  common  rights.  In  our  former  memorial  we 
have  expressed  our  hearty  approbation  of  the  Declaration  of 
Rights,  which  has  been  made  and  adopted  as  the  basis  of  the 
laws  and  government  of  this  State,  and  now  we  take  the  oppor- 
tunity of  testifying  that  nothing  has  inspired  us  with  greater  con- 
fidence in  our  Legislature,  than  the  late  act  of  Assembly  declaring 
that  equal  liberty,  as  well  religious  as  civil,  shall  be  universally 
extended  to  the  good  people  of  this  country;  and  that  all  the 
oppressive  acts  of  Parliament  respecting  religion  which  have  been 
formerly  enacted  in  the  mother  country,  shall  henceforth  be  of 
no  validity  or  force  in  this  commonwealth;  as  also  exempting 
dissenters    from   all    levies,   taxes,    and   impositions,    whatsoever, 

*"  Thomas  Jefferson:  Works,  Vol.  I.,  p.  39. 


Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith 


[        '  And  Religious  Liberty.  89 

towards  supporting  the  Church  of  England  as  it  now  is  or  here- 
after may  be  established.  We  would,  therefore,  have  given  our 
honorable  Legislature  no  further  trouble  on  this  subject,  but  we 
are  sorry  to  find  that  there  yet  remains  a  variety  of  opinions 
touching  the  propriety  of  a  general  assessment,  or  whether  every 
religious  society  shall  be  left  to  voluntary  contributions  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who  are  of  diflferent 
persuasions.  As  this  matter  is  deferred  by  our  Legislature  to  the 
discussion  and  final  determination  of  a  future  Assembly,  when 
the  opinions  of  the  country  in  general  shall  be  better  known ;  we 
think  it  our  indispensable  duty  again  to  repeat  a  part  of  the  prayer 
of  our  former  memorial,  'that  dissenters  of  every  denomination 
may  be  exempted  from  all  taxes  for  the  support  of  any  church 
whatsoever,  further  than  what  may  be  agreeable  to  the  private 
choice  or  voluntary  obligations  of  every  individual ;  while  the  civil 
magistrates  no  otherwise  interfere  than  to  protect  them  all  in 
the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  several  modes  of  worship.'  We 
then  represented  as  the  principal  reason  upon  which  this  request 
is  founded,  that  the  only  proper  objects  of  civil  governments  are 
the  happiness  and  protection  of  men  in  the  present  state  of  exist- 
ence, the  security  of  the  life,  liberty  and  property  of  the  citizens, 
and  to  restrain  the  vicious  and  encourage  the  virtuous  by  whole- 
some laws  equally  extending  to  every  individual;  and  that  the 
duty  which  we  owe  our  Creator,  and  the  manner  of  discharging 
it,  can  only  be  directed  by  reason  and  conviction,  and  is  nowhere 
cognizable  but  at  the  tribunal  of  the  Universal  Judge. 

"  To  illustrate  and  confirm  these  assertions,  we  beg  leave  to 
observe,  that  to  judge  for  ourselves,  and  to  engage  in  the  exer- 
cise of  religion  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  consciences  is 
an  unalienable  right,  which  upon  the  principles  that  the  Gospel 
was  first  propagated,  and  the  reformation  from  Popery  carried  on, 
can  never  be  transferred  to  another.  Neither  does  the  Church  of 
Christ  stand  in  need  of  a  general  assessment  for  its  support ;  and 
most  certain  we  are  that  it  would  be  no  advantage,  but  an  injury 
to  the  society  to  which  we  belong :  and  as  every  good  Christian 
believes  that  Christ  has  ordained  a  complete  system  of  laws  for 
the  government  of  his  kingdom,  so  we  are  persuaded  that,  by  his 
providence,  he  will  support  it  to  its  final  consummation.  In  the 
fixed  belief  of  this  principle,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the 
concerns  of  religion,  are  beyond  the  limits  of  civil  control,  we 
should  act  a  dishonest,  inconsistent  part,  were  we  to  receive  any 


90  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

emoluments  from  human  establishments  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel. 

"  These  things  being  considered,  we  hope  we  shall  be  excused 
for  remonstrating  against  a  general  assessment  for  any  religious 
purpose.  As  the  maxims  have  long  been  approved,  that  every 
servant  is  to  obey  his  master ;  and  that  the  hireling  is  accountable 
for  his  conduct  to  him  from  whom  he  receives  his  wages;  in 
like  manner,  if  the  Legislature  has  any  rightful  authority  over  the 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  the  exercise  of  their  sacred  office,  and 
it  is  their  duty  to  levy  a  maintenance  for  them  as  such ;  then  it- 
will  follow  that  they  may  revive  the  old  establishment  in  its 
former  extent;  or  ordain  a  new  one  for  any  sect  they  think 
proper ;  they  are  invested  with  a  power  not  only  to  determine,  but 
it  is  incumbent  on  them  to  declare  who  shall  preach,  what  they 
shall  preach ;  to  whom,  when,  or  at  what  places  they  shall  preach ; 
or  to  impose  any  regulations  and  restrictions  upon  religious 
societies  that  they  may  judge  expedient.  These  consequences  are 
so  plain  as  not  to  be  denied ;  and  they  are  so  entirely  subversive 
of  religious  liberty,  that  if  they  should  take  place  in  Virginia,  we 
should  be  reduced  to  the  melancholy  necessity  of  saying  with  the 
apostles  in  like  cases,  'Judge  ye  whether  it  is  best  to  obey  God  or 
man,'  and  also  of  acting  as  they  acted. 

"  Therefore,  as  it  is  contrary  to  our  principles  and  interest ;  and, 
as  we  think,  subversive  of  religious  liberty,  we  do  again  most 
earnestly  entreat  that  our  Legislature  would  never  extend  any 
assessment  for  religious  purposes  to  us,  or  to  the  congregations 
under  our  care.  And  your  memorialists,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall 
ever  pray  for,  and  demean  themselves  as  peaceable  subjects  of 
civil  government. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  Presbytery. 

"  Richard  Sankey,  Moderator. 
"  Timber  Ridge^  April  25,  1777."  " 

November  5,  1776,  Messrs.  Pendleton,  Wythe,  George 
Mason,  Thomas  L.  Lee  and  Thomas  Jefferson  had  been 
appointed  by  the  Assembly  a  committee  to  revise  the  laws. 
This  committee  met  at  Fredericksburg,  January  13,  1777. 

"  Found  in  Virginia  Archives.  Copy  in  William  H.  Foote, 
^Ketches  of  Virginia,  pp.  ^26-32^,  etc, 


And  Religious  Liberty.  91 

It  determined  upon  the  plan  of  abolishing  "the  whole  ex- 
isting system  of  laws  and  preparing  a  new  and  complete 
institute."  Messrs.  Lee  and  Alason  excused  themselves 
from  further  services  on  the  committee,  on  the  ground  of 
lack  of  qualification  as  not  being  lawyers.  Messrs.  Jef- 
ferson, Wythe  and  Pendleton,  working  assiduously,  ac- 
cording to  .their  own  plans,  were  ready  to  report  to  the 
General  Assembly  June  18,  1779.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  bills  proposed  by  this  committee,  some  bills 
were  taken  out  from  time  to  time  and  passed  into  laws ; 
"but  the  main  body  of  the  wotk  was  not  entered  upon  by 
the  legislature,  until  after  the  general  peace,  in  1785,  when, 
by  the  unwearied  exertions  of  'Mr.  ^Madison,  in  opposition 
to  the  endless  quibbles,  chicaneries,  perversions,  vexations 
and  delays  of  lawyers  and  demi-lawyers,  most  of  the  bills 
were  passed  by  the  legislature  with  little  alteration. 

"The  bill  for  establishing  religious  freedom,''  says  Mr. 
Jefferson,  "the  principles  of  which  had,  to  a  certain  degree, 
been  enacted  before,  I  had  drawn  in  all  the  latitude  of  rea- 
son and  right.  It  still  met  with  opposition ;  but,  with 
some  mutilations  in  the  preamble,  it  was  finally  passed ; 
and  a  singular  proposition  proved  that  its  protection  of 
opinion  was  meant  to  be  universal.  Where  the  preamble 
declares  that  coercion  is  a  departure  from  the  plan  of  the 
holy  author  of  our  religion,  an  amendment  was  proposed 
by  inserting  the  words  'J^sus  Christ,'  so  that  it  should 
read  'A  departure  from  the  plan  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  holy 
author  of  our  religion ;'  the  insertion  was  rejected  by  a 
great  majority,  in  proof  that  they  meant  to  comprehend, 
within  the  mantle  of  its  protection,  the  Jew  and  the  Gen- 
tile, the  Christian  and  ^Mahometan,  the  Hindoo,  and 
infidel  of  everv  denomination."-^ 


^  Thomas  Jefferson :  Works,  Vol.  L,  pp.  44,  45. 


92  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  proposed  to  the  Assembly  the  demoH- 
tion  of  Church  EstabHshment  and  the  freedom  of  reHgion 
as  early  as  1776,  as  has  appeared.  "It  could  only  be  done 
by  degrees;  to- wit:  the  act  of  1776,  c.  2d,  exempted  Dis- 
senters from  contributions  to  the  Church,  and  left  the 
Church  clergy  to  be  supported  by  voluntary  contributions 
of  their  own  sect ;  was  continued  from  year  to  year ;  and 
was  made  perpetual  in  1779."^^  Thus  the  Established 
Church  was  stripped  of  the  greater  part  of  her  support. 
The  clergy,  however,  still  retained  the  glebes ;  they 
claimed  the  prerogative  5f  marriage  ceremonies  with 
their  fees ;  and  the  vestries  still  exercised  the  right  of  lay- 
ing taxes  for  the  support  of  the  poor. 

Meanwhile,  the  Dissenters  had  been  anxiously  watching 
the  legislature  for  laws  in  accord  with  the  Bill  of  Rights. 
The  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  as  its  records  show,  was  on 
the  alert.  Partially  bridled,  indeed,  by  its  zeal  to  see  the 
war  with  Britain  safely  ended,  before  pressing  its  desires 
with  reference  to  religion  on  the  attention  of  the  legisla- 
ture, it  was  not  forgetful  of  the  Assembly's  duty  to  recog- 
nize in  fact  and  law  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
and  the  absolutely  equal  treatment  of  all  sects.  As  soon 
as  the  war  was  over  the  Presbytery's  voice  becomes 
strongly  vibrant  again. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  Bethel,  Augusta  County,  May  19, 
1784,  the  Presbytery,  through  the  Revs.  John  Blair  Smith 
and  James  Waddell,  prepared  this  memorial : 

"  To  the  Honorable  Speaker  and  House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia; 

"  Gentlemen, — The  united  clergy  of  the   Presbyterian   Church 

in  Virginia,  assembled  in  Presbytery,  request  your  attention  to  the 

following  representation.    In  the  late  arduous  struggle  for  every- 

""  Thomas  Jefiferson :  Works,  Vol.  I.,  p.  174;  Journal  House  of 
Delegates,  October  Session,  1776,  pp.  62,  6^. 


j^E\ 

^ 

11 

1 

'''^^ 

1 

^^'>' 

'     ^S 

Rev.  John  Blair  Smith 


94  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

thing  dear  to  us,  a  desire  of  perfect  liberty  and  political  equality 
animated  every  class  of  citizens.  An  entire  and  everlasting  free- 
dom from  every  species  of  ecclesiastical  domination,  a  full  and 
permanent  security  of  the  unalienable  rights  of  conscience,  and 
private  judgment,  and  an" equal  share  of  the  protection  and  favor 
of  government  to  all  denominations  of  Christians,  were  particu- 
lar objects  of  our  expectations  and  irrefragable  claim.  The  happy 
resolution  effected  by  the  virtuous  exertions  of  our  countrymen 
of  various  opinions  in  religion  was  a  favorable  opportunity  of 
obtaining  these  desirable  objects  without  faction,  contention  or 
complaint.  All  ranks  of  men,  almost,  felt  the  claims  of  justice 
when  the  rod  of  oppression  had  scourged  them  into  sensibility, 
and  the  powerful  band  of  common  danger  had  cordially  united 
them  together  against  civil  encroachments.  The  members,  there- 
fore, of  every  religious  society  had  a  right  to  expect,  and  most  of 
them  did  expect,  that  former  invidious  and  exclusive  distinctions, 
preferences,  and  emoluments  conferred  by  the  State  on  any  one 
sect  above  others  would  have  been  wholly  removed.  They  justly 
supposed  that  any  partiality  of  this  kind,  any  particular  and  illicit 
connection  or  commerce  between  the  State  and  one  description 
of  Christians  more  than  another,  on  account  of  peculiar  opinions 
in  religion  or  anything  else  would  be  unworthy  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  a  people  perfectly  free,  and  an  infringement  of  that 
religious  liberty  which  enhances  the  value  of  other  privileges  in 
the  state  of  society. 

"  We,  therefore,  and  the  numerous  body  of  citizens  in  our  com- 
munion, as  well  as  many  others,  are  justly  dissatisfied  and  uneasy, 
that  our  expectations  from  the  Legislature  have  not  been  an- 
swered in  these  important  respects.  We  regret  that  the  prejudice 
of  education,  the  influence  of  partial  custom,  and  habits  of  think- 
ing confirmed  by  these,  have  too  much  confounded  the  distinction 
between  matters  purely  religious  and  the  objects  of  human  legis- 
lation, and  have  occasioned  jealousy  and  dissatisfaction  by  injur- 
ious inequalities,  respecting  things  which  are  connected  with 
religious  opinions,  towards  different  sects  of  Christians.  That 
this  uneasiness  may  not  appear  to  be  entertained  without  ground, 
we  would  wish  to  state  the  following  unquestionable  facts  for 
the  consideration  of  the  House  of  Delegates : 

"  The  security  of  our  religious  rights  upon  equal  and  impartial 
ground,  instead  of  being  made  a  fundamental  part  of  our  con- 
stitution, as  it  ought  to  have  been,  is  left  to  the  precarious  fate  of 


And  Religious  Liberty.  95 

common  law.  A  matter  of  general  and  essential  concern  to  the 
people  is  committed  to  the  hazard  of  the  prevailing  opinion  of  a 
majority  of  the  Assembly  at  its  different  sessions.  In  consequence 
of  this  the  Episcopal  Church  was  virtually  regarded  as  the  con- 
stitutional church,  the  church  of  the  State,  at  the  Revolution; 
and  was  left  by  the  framers  of  our  present  government  in  that 
station  of  unjust  pre-eminence  which  she  had  formerly  acquired 
under  the  smiles  of  royal  favor.  And  even  when  the  late  oppres- 
sive establishment  of  that  church  was  at  length  acknowledged  an 
unreasonable  hardship  by  the  Assembly  in  1776,  a  superiority  and 
distinction  in  name  was  still  retained,  and  it  was  expressly  styled 
the  Established  Church,  as  before ;  which  title  was  continued  as 
late  as  the  year  1778,  and  never  formally  disclaimed :  Our  com- 
mon danger  at  that  time  not  permitting  that  opposition  to  the 
injustice  of  such  distinction  which  it  required  and  deserved. 

"  But  'a  seat  on  the  right  hand  of  temporal  glory  as  the  estab- 
lished mother  church'  was  not  the  only  inequality  then  counte- 
nanced, and  still  subsisting,  of  which  we  now  have  reason  to  re- 
gret and  complain.  Substantial  advantages  were  also  confirmed 
and  secured  to  her  by  a  partial  and  inequitable  decree  of  govern- 
ment. We  hope  the  time  past  would  have  sufficed  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  these  emoluments  which  that  church  long  possessed 
without  control  by  the  abridgment  of  the  equal  privileges  of 
others,  and  the  aid  of  their  property  wrested  from  them  by  the 
hand  of  usurpation ;  but  we  were  deceived.  An  estate  computed 
to  be  worth  several  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  churches,  glebes, 
etc.,  derived  from  the  pockets  of  all  religious  societies,  was  ex- 
clusively and  unjustly  appropriated  to  the  benefit  of  one,  without 
compensation  or  restitution  to  the  rest,  who  in  many  places,  were 
a  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants. 

"Nor  is  this  the  whole  of  the  injustice  we  have  felt  in  matters 
connected  with  religious  opinion.  The  Episcopal  Church  is 
actually  incorporated,  and  known  in  law  as  a  body,  so  that  it 
can  receive  and  possess  property  for  ecclesiastical  purposes,  with- 
out trouble  or  risk  in  securing  it,  while  other  Christian  Com- 
munities are  obliged  to  trust  to  the  precarious  fidelity  of  trustees 
chosen  for  the  purpose.  The  Episcopal  clergy  are  considered  as 
having  a  right,  ex-ofUcio.  to  celebrate  marriages  throughout  the 
State,  while  unnecessary  hardships  and  restrictions  are  imposed 
upon  other  clergymen  in  the  law  relating  to  that  subject  passed  in 
1780,  which  confines  their  exercise  of  that  function  to  those  coun- 


96  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

ties,  where  they  receive  a  special  license  from  the  court  by  recom- 
mendation, for  recording  which  they  are  charged  with  certain 
fees  by  the  clerks ;  and  which  exposes  them  to  a  heavy  fine  for 
delay  in  returning  certificates  of  marriage  to  the  office. 

"  The  vestries  of  the  different  parishes,  a  remnant  of  hierarchi- 
cal domination,  have  a  right  by  law  to  levy  money  from,  the  people 
of  all  denominations  for  certain  purposes,  and  yet  these  vestrymen 
are  exclusively  required  by  law  to  be  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  to  subscribe  a  conformity  to  its  doctrines  and  disci- 
pline as  professed  and  practiced  in  England.  Such  preferences, 
distinctions  and  advantages  granted  by  the  Legislature  exclusively 
to  one  sect  of  Christians  are  regarded  by  a  great  number  of  your 
constituents  as  glaringly  unjust  and  dangerous.  Their  contin- 
uance so  long  in  a  republic,  without  animadversion  or  correction 
by  the  Assembly,  affords  just  ground  for  alarm  and  complaint  to 
a  people,  who  feel  themselves,  by  the  favor  of  Providence,  happily 
free;  who  are  conscious  of  having  deserved  as  well  from  the 
State  as  those  who  are  most  favored;  who  have  an  undoubted 
right  to  think  themselves  as  orthodox  in  opinion  upon  every 
subject  as  others,  and  whose  privileges  are  as  dear  to  them. 
Such  partiality  to  .any  system  of  religious  opinion  whatever  is 
inconsistent  with  the  intention  and  proper  object  of  well-directed 
government,  and  obliges  men  of  reflection  to  consider  the  Legis- 
lature which  indulges  it,  as  a  party  in  religious  differences,  instead 
of  a  common  guardian  and  equal  protector  of  every  class  of  citi- 
zens in  their  religious  as  well  as  civil  rights.  We  have  hitherto 
restrained  our  complaints  from  reaching  our  representatives,  that 
we  might  not  be  thought  to  take  advantages  from  times  of  con- 
fusion, or  critical  situations  of  government  in  an  unsettled  state 
of  convulsion  and  war,  to  obtain  what  is  our  clear  and  incon- 
testable right. 

"  But  as  the  happy  restoration  of  peace  affords  leisure  for 
reflection,  we  wish  to  state  our  sense  of  the  objects  of  this  me- 
morial to  your  honorable  house  upon  the  present  occasion;  that 
it  may  serve  to  remind  you  of  what  might  be  unnoticed  in  a  mul- 
titude of  business,  and  remain  as  a  remonstrance  against  future 
encroachments  from  any  quarter.  That  uncommon  liberality  of 
sentiment,  which  seems  daily  to  gain  ground  in  this  enlightened 
period,  encourages  us  to  hope  from  your  wisdom  and  integrity, 
gentlemen,  a  redress  of  every  grievance  and  remedy  of  every 
abuse.    Our  invaluable  privileges  have  been  purchasd  by  the  com- 


And  Religious  Liberty.  97 

mon  blood  and  treasure  of  our  countrymen  of  different  names 
and  opinions,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  secured  in  full  and  perfect 
equality  to  them  all.  We  are  willing  to  allow  a  full  share  of 
credit  to  our  fellow  citizens,  however  distinguished  in  name  from 
us,  for  their  spirited  exertions  in  our  arduous  struggle  for  liberty; 
we  would  not  wish  to  charge  any  of  them,  either  ministers  or 
people,  with  open  disaffection  to  the  common  cause  of  America, 
or  with  crafty  dissimulation  or  indecision,  till  the  issue  of  the 
war  was  certain,  so  as  to  oppose  their  obtaining  equal  privileges 
in  religion;  but  we  will  resolutely  engage  against  any  monopoly 
of  the  honors  or  rewards  of  government  by  any  one  sect  of  Chris- 
tians more  than  the  rest ;  for  we  shun  not  a  comparison  with  any 
of  our  brethren  for  our  efforts  in  the  cause  of  our  country  and 
assisting  to  establish  her  liberties,  and  therefore  esteem  it  un- 
reasonable that  any  of  them  should  reap  superior  advantages  for, 
at  most,  but  equal  merit.  We  expect  from  the  representatives 
of  a  free  people  that  all  partiality  and  prejudice  on  any  account- 
whatever  will  be  laid  aside,  and  that  the  happiness  of  the  citizens 
at  large  will  be  secured  upon  the  broad  basis  of  perfect  political 
equality.  This  will  engage  confidence  in  government  and  unsus- 
picious affection  toward  our  fellow-citizens.  We  hope  that  the 
Legislature  will  adopt  some  measures  to  remove  present  inequality 
and  resist  any  attempt,  either  at  their  present  session  or  hereafter, 
to  continue  those  which  we  now  complain  of.  Thus  by  pre- 
serving a  proper  regard  to  every  religious  denomination  as  the 
common  protectors  of  piety  and  virtue,  you  will  remove  every  real 
ground  of  contention,  and  allay  every  jealous  commotion  on  the 
score  of  religion.  The  citizens  of  Virginia  will  feel  themselves 
free,  unsuspicious  and  happy  in  this  respect.  Strangers  will  be 
encouraged  to  share  our  freedom  and  felicity;  and  when  civil 
and  religious  liberty  go  hand  in  hand,  our  late  posterity  will  bless 
the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  their  fathers.  We  have  the  satisfaction 
to  assure  you  that  we  are  steady  well-wishers  to  the  State  and 
your  humble  servants.  "  The  Presbytery  of  Hanover."  '" 

'"  This  memorial  is  found  in  the  Virginia  Archives.  Copies  are 
in  William  H.  Foote,  Sketches  of  Virginia,  pp.  333-334 ;  and  in 
C.  F.  James,  The  Struggle  for  Religious  Liberty  in  Virginia  pp. 
227  ff. 


98  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

By  appointment  of  the  Presbytery,  the  Rev.  John  Blair 
Smith  and  the  Rev.  James  Waddell  were  charged  with 
having  this  memorial  properly  presented  to  the  Assembly, 
a  duty  which  these  gentlemen  discharged  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  Presbytery,  as  is  shown  by  the  minutes  of  its 
next  meeting. 

This  paper  shows  that  Hanover  Presbytery  of  May, 
1784,  is  the  worthy  successor  of  the  body  of  the  same 
name  of  1777.  They  still  make  the  "distinction  between 
matters  purely  religious,  and  the  objects  of  human  legis- 
lation," they  are  dissatisfied  with  the  "injurious  inequali- 
ties respecting  things  which  are  connected  with  religious 
opinion."  "Such  partiality  to  any  system  of  religious 
opinion  whatever,  is  inconsistent  with  the  intention  and 
proper  object  of  well-directed  government."  They  long 
to  have  "civil  and  religious  liberty  go  hand  in  hand." 

From  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  for  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  some  of  the  citizens  seem  to  have 
favored  the  State's  providing  for  a  general  assessment  to 
support  all  sects.  During  the  year  1784  the  subject  of  a 
general  assessment  was  freshly  brought  before  the  legis- 
lature in  its  two  sessions,  by  petitions:  ""May  15,  1784: 
A  petition  of  sundry  inhabitants  of  the  County  of  War- 
wick, .  .  .  setting  forth  that,  in  the  present  neglected 
state  of  religion  and  morality,  they  conceive  a  general 
assessment  would  greatly  contribute  to  restore  and  propa- 
gate the  holy  Christian  religion ;  and  praying  that  an  act 
may  pass  for  the  assessment  upon  all  titheables  for  the 
support  of  religion.""^ 

June  4,  1784:  "A  petition  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church   was   presented   to   the   House  and   read,   setting 

^^  Copy  in  C.  F.  James,  The  Struggle  for  Religious  Liberty  in 
Virginia,  p.  122. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  99 

forth  that  their  church  labors  under  many  inconveniences 
and  restraints,  by  the  operation  of  sundry  laws  now  in 
force,  which  direct  modes  of  worship,  and  enjoin  the  ob- 
servance of  certain  days,  and  otherwise  produce  embar- 
rassment and  difficulty ;  and  praying  that  all  acts  which 
direct  modes  of  faith  and  worship  and  enjoin  the  observ- 
ance of  certain  days  may  be  repealed ;  that  the  present 
vestry  laws  may  be  repealed  or  amended;  that  the 
churches,  glebe  lands,  donations,  and  all  other  property 
heretofore  belonging  to  the  Established  Church  may  for- 
ever be  secured  to  them  by  law ;  that  an  act  may  pass  to 
incorporate  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia 
to  enable  them  to  regulate  all  the  spiritual  concerns  of 
that  Church ;  and  in  general,  that  the  legislature  will  aid 
and  patronize  the  Christian  religion. '"'*- 

Patrick  Henry  was  an  advocate  of  a  general  assessment 
for  the  support  of  religion.  The  decadence  of  religion  in 
the  presence  of  spreading  French  infidelity,  occasioned 
doubts  in  the  minds  of  liberal  statesmen  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  the  non-support  of  religion  by  the  State.  It  was 
generally  feared  that  some  kind  of  assessment  would  be 
demanded  by  the  majority  of  the  citizens  and  passed  into 
an  act  by  the  legislature.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
Presbytery,  meeting  at  Timber  Ridge,  October  27,  1784, 
approved  another  memorial,  drawn  up  by  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
William  Graham  and  John  Blair  Smith,  to  be  presented  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  State.  This  memorial  states 
again  in  various  implications  the  view  as  to  the  proper 
relation  of  State  and  Church  hitherto  maintained  by  Han- 
over Presbytery.  But  on  the  view  that,  contrary  to  this 
theory,  some  kind  of  assessment  would  be  imposed,  under- 

'^  C.  F.  James,  Id.,  p.  124 ;  F.  L.  Hawks,  Contributions  to  the 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  156,  157. 


loo  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

took  to  indicate  that  the  only  tolerable  kind  of  assessment 
must  proceed  on  so  liberal  a  basis  as  to  provide  for  the 
inclucation  "of  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  all 
religion"  merely. 

The  memorial  of  October,  1784,  is  as  follows: 

"  To  the  Honorable  Speaker  and  House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia : 
"  Gentlemen,^The  united  clergy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Virginia  assembled  in  Presbytery,  beg  leave  again  to  address  your 
honorable  house  upon  a  few  important  subjects,  in  which  we  find 
ourselves  interested  as  citizens  of  this  State. 

"  The  freedom  we  possess  is  so  rich  a  blessing,  and  the  pur- 
chase of  it  has  been  so  high,  that  we  would  ever  wish  to  cherish 
a  spirit  of  vigilant  attention  to  it  in  every  circumstance  of  pos- 
sible danger.  We  are  anxious  to  retain  a  full  share  of  all  the 
privileges  which  our  happy  Revolution  affords, .  and  cannot  but 
feel  alarmed  at  the  continued  existence  of  any  infringement  upon 
them,  or  even  any  indirect  attempt  tending  to  this.  Impressed 
with  this  idea  as  men,  whose  rights  are  sacred  and  dear  to  them, 
ought  to  be,  we  are  obliged  to  express  our  sensibility  upon  the 
present  occasion,  and  we  naturally  direct  our  appeal  to  you,  gen- 
tlemen, as  the  public  guardians  of  your  country's  happiness  and 
liberty,  who  are  influenced,  we  hope,  by  that  wisdom  and  justice 
which  your  high  station  requires.  Conscious  of  the  rectitude  of 
our  intentions  and  the  strength  of  our  claims,  we  wish  to  speak 
our  sentiments  freely  upon  these  occasions,  but  at  the  same  time 
with  all  that  respectful  regard  which  becomes  us  when  addressing 
.the  repres'entatives  of  a  great  and  virtuous  people.  It  is  with  pain 
that  we  find  ourselves  obliged  to  renew  our  complaints  upon  the 
subjects  stated  in  our  memorial  last  spring.  We  deeply  regret 
that  such  obvious  grievances  should  exist  unredressed  in  a  repub- 
lic whose  end  ought  to  be  the  happiness  of  all  the  citizens.  We 
presumed  that  immediate  redress  would  have  succeeded  a  clear 
and  just  representation  of  them,  as  we  expect  that  it  is  always  the 
desire  of  our  representatives  to  remove  real  grounds  of  uneasi- 
ness and  allay  jealous  commotions  amongst  the  people.  But  as 
the  objects  of  the  memorial,  though  very  important  in  their  nature, 
and  more  so  in  their  probable  consequences,  have  not  yet  been 


And  Religious  Liberty.  ioi 

obtained,  we  request  that  the  House  of  Delegates  would  be 
pleased  to  recollect  what  we  had  the  honor  to  state  to  them  in 
that  paper  at  their  last  sessions;  to  resume  the  subject  in  their 
present  deliberation;  and  to  give  it  that  weight  which  its  impor- 
tance deserves.  The  uneasiness  which  we  feel  from  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  grievances  just  referred  to,  is  increased  under 
the  prospect  of  an  addition  to  them  by  certain  exceptionable 
measures  said  to  be  proposed  to  the  Legislature.  We  have  under- 
stood that  a  comprehensive  incorporating  act  has  been  and  is  at 
present  in  agitation,  whereby  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  as  such,  of 
certain  descriptions,  shall  have  legal  advantages  which  are  not 
proposed  to  be  extended  to  the  people  at  large  of  any  denomina- 
tion. A  proposition  has  been  made  by  some  gentlemen  in  the 
House  of  Delegates,  we  are  told,  to  extend  the  grace  to  us, 
amongst  others,  in  our  professional  capacity.  If  this  be  so,  we 
are  bound  to  acknowledge  with  gratitude  our  obligations  to  such 
gentlemen  for  their  inclination  to  favor  us  with  the  sanction  of 
public  authority  in  the  discharge  of  our  duty.  But  as  the  scheme 
of  incorporating  clergymen,  independent  of  the  religious  com- 
munities to  which  they  belong,  is  inconsistent  with  our  ideas  of 
propriety,  we  request  the  liberty  of  declining  any  such  solitary 
honor  should  it  be  again  proposed.  To  form  clergymen  into  a 
distinct  order  in  the  community,  and  especially  where  it  would  be 
possible  for  them  to  have  the  principal  direction  of  a  consider- 
able public  estate  by  such"  incorporation,  has  a  tendency  to  render 
them  independent,  at  length,  of  the  churches  whose  ministers 
they  are ;  and  this  has  been  too  often  found  by  experience  to 
produce  ignorance,  immorality,  and  neglect  of  the  duties  of  their 
station. 

"  Besides,  if  clergymen  were  to  be  erected  by  the  State  into  a 
distinct  political  body,  detached  from  the  rest  of  the  citizens, 
with  the  express  design  of  'enabling  them  to  direct  spiritual  mat- 
ters,' which  we  all  possess  without  such  formality,  it  would 
naturally  tend  to  introduce  that  antiquated  and  absurd  system,  in 
which  government  is  owned,  in  effect,  to  be  the  fountain  head 
of  spiritual  influences  to  the  Church.  It  would  establish  an  im- 
mediate, a  peculiar,  and  for  that  very  reason,  in  our  opinion, 
illicit  connection  between  government  and  such  as  were  thus 
distinguished.  The  Legislature  in  that  case  would  be  the  head 
of  a  religious  party,  and  its  dependent  members  would  be  entitled 
to  all  decent  reciprocity,  to  a  becoming  paternal  and  fostering 


102  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

care.  This,  we  suppose,  would  be  giving  a  preference  and  creating 
a  distinction  between  citizens  equally  good,  on  account  of  some- 
thing entirely  foreign  from  civil  merit,  which  would  be  a  source 
of  endless  jealousies,  and  inadmissible  in  a  republic  or  any  other 
well-directed  government.  The  principle,  too,  which  this  system 
aims  to  establish  is  both  false  and  dangerous  to  religion,  and  we 
take  this  opportunity  to  remonstrate  and  protest  against  it.  The 
real  ministers  of  true  religion  derive  their  authority  to  act  in  the 
duties  of  their  profession  from  a  higher  source  than  any  Legisla- 
ture on  earth,  however  respectable.  Their  office  relates  to  the 
care  of  the  soul,  and  preparing  it  for  a  future  estate  of  existence, 
and  their  administrations  are,  or  ought  to  be,  of  a  spiritual  nature, 
suited  to  this  momentous  concern.  And  it  is  plain  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case  that  they  should  neither  expect  nor  receive 
from  government  any  permission  or  direction  in  this  respect.  We 
hope,  therefore,  that  the  House  of  Delegates  shares  so  large  a 
portion  of  that  philosophic  and  liberal  discernment  which  prevails 
in  America  at  present  as  to  see  this  matter  in  its  proper  light — 
and  that  they  will  understand  too  well  the  nature  of  their  duty 
as  the  equal  and  common  guardians  of  the  chartered  rights  of  all 
the  citizens  to  permit  a  connection  of  this  kind  we  have  jusi 
mentioned  to  subsist  between  them  and  the  spiritual  instructors  of 
any  religious  denomination  in  the  State.  The  interference  of 
government  in  religion  cannot  be  indififerent  to  us,  and  as  it  will 
probably  come  under  consideration  at  the  present  session  of  the 
Assembly,  we  request  the  attention  of  the  honorable  House  to  our 
sentiments  upon  this  head. 

"  We  conceive  that  human  legislation  ought  to  have  human 
affairs,  as  they  relate  to  this  world  alone  for  its  concern.  Legis- 
lators in  free  states  possess  delegated  authority  for  the  good  of 
the  community  at  large  in  its  political  or  civil  capacity. 

"  The  existence,  preservation  and  happiness  of  society  should 
be  their  only  object,  and  to  this  their  public  cares  should  be  con- 
fined. Whatever  is  not  materially  connected  with  this  lies  not 
within  their  province  as  statesmen.  The  thoughts,  the  inten- 
tions, the  faith,  and  the  consciousness  of  men,  with  their  modes 
of  worship,  lie  beyond  their  reach,  and  are  ever  to  be  referred 
to  a  higher  and  more  penetrating  tribunal.  These  internal  and 
spiritual  matters  cannot  be  measured  by  human  rules,  nor  be 
amenable  to  human  laws.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  man,  for  him- 
self,  to   take   care   of  his   immortal   interests   in  a  future  state, 


And  Religious  Liberty.  103 

where  we  are  to  account  for  our  conduct  as  individuals,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  the  business  of  a  Legislature  to  attend  to  this,  for 
there  governments  and  states  as  collective  bodies  shall  no  more 
be  known. 

"  Religion,  therefore,  as  a  spiritual  system,  and  its  ministers  in 
a  professional  capacity,  ought  not  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the 
State. 

Neither  is  it  necessary  to  their  existence  that  they  should  be 
publicly  supported  by  a  legal  provision  for  the  purpose,  as  tried 
experience  has  often  shown;  although  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  existence  and  welfare  of  every  political  combination  of  men 
in  society  to  have  the  support  of  religion  and  its  solemn  institu- 
tions as  affecting  the  conduct  of  rational  beings  more  than  human 
laws  can  possibly  do.  On  this  account  it  is  wise  policy  in  legisla- 
tors to  seek  its  alliance  and  solicit  its  aid  in  a  civil  view,  because 
of  its  happy  influence  upon  the  morality  of  its  citizens,  and  its 
tendency  to  preserve  the  veneration  of  an  oath,  or  an  appeal  to 
heaven,  which  is  the  cement  of  the  social  union.  Ii.  is  upon  this 
principle  alone,  in  our  opinion,  that  a  legislative  body  has  a  right 
to  interfere  in  religion  at  all,  and  of  consequence  we  suppose  that 
this  interference  ought  only  to  extend  to  the  preserving  of  the 
public  worship  of  the  deity  and  the  supporting' of  institutions  for 
inculcating  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  all  religion,  vitb-r 
out  which  society  could  not  easily  exist.  Should  it  be  thought 
necessary  at  present  for  the  Assembly  to  exert  this  right  of  sup- 
porting religion  in  general  by  an  assessment  on  all  the  people 
we  would  wish  it  to  be  done  on  the  most  liberal  plan.  A  general 
assessment  of  the  kind  we  have  heard  proposed  is  an  object  o'' 
such  consequence  that  it  excites  much  anxious  speculation 
amongst  your  constituents. 

"  We  therefore  earnestly  pray  that  nothing  may  be  done  in 
the  case  inconsistent  with  the  proper  objects  of  human  legis- 
lation or  the  Declaration  of  Rights  as  published  at  the  Revolution. 
We  hope  that  the  assessment  will  not  be  proposed  under  the  idea 
of  supporting  religion  as  a  spiritual  system,  relating  to  the  care  of 
the  soul  and  preparing  it  for  its  future  destiny.  W^e  hope  that 
no  attempt  will  be  made  to  point  out  articles  of  faith  that  are  not 
essential  to  the  preservation  of  society,  or  to  settle  modes  of  wor- 
ship, or  to  interfere  in  the  internal  government  of  religious  com- 
munities, or  to  render  the  ministers  of  religion  independent  of 
the  will  of  the  people  whom  they  serve.     We  expect  from  our 


104  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

representatives  that  careful  attention  to  the  political  equality  of  all 
the  citizens,  which  a  republic  ought  ever  to  cherish;  and  that  no 
scheme  of  an  assessment  will  be  encouraged  which  will  violate 
the  happy  privilege  we  now  enjoy  of  thinking  for  ourselves  in 
all  cases  where  conscience  is  concerned. 

"  We  request  the  candid  indulgence  of  the  honorable  House  to 
the  present  address,  and  their  most  favorable  construction  of  the 
motives  which  induce  us  to  obtrude  ourselves  into  public  notice. 
We  are  urged  by  a  sense  of  duty.  We  feel  ourselves  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  the  present  crisis.  We  have  expressed 
ourselves  in  the  plain  language  of  freedom,  upon  the  interesting 
subjects  which  called  for  animadversion,  and  we  hope  to  stand 
excused  with  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  manner  in  which  it  is  exe- 
cuted, as  well  as  for  the  part  we  take  in  the  public  interests  of  the 
community.  In  the  present  important  moment  we  conceive  it 
criminal  to  be  silent,  and  have  therefore  attempted  to  discharge 
a  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  religion  as  Christians ;  to  ourselves 
as  freemen,  and  to  our  posterity,  who  ought  to  receive  from  us 
a  precious  birthright  of  perfect  freedom  and  political  equality. 

"  That  you  may  be  blessed  with  the  direction  of  Heaven  in  your 
deliberations  and  possess  in  a  high  degree  the  spirit  of  your  im- 
portant station,  is  the  prayer  of  your  humble  servants. 

"  The  Presbytery  of  Hanover."  ^ 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  a  plan  was  in- 
troduced, "agreeably  to  which  alone  Presbytery  are  will- 
ing to  admit  a  general  assessment  for  the  support  of 
religion  by  law ;  the  leading  principles  of  which  are  as 
follows :  First,  Religion  as  a  spiritual  system  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  an  object  of  human  legislation,  but  may,  in 
a  civil  view,  as  preserving  the  existence  and  promoting 
the  happiness  of  society.  Second,  That  public  worship 
and  public  periodical  instruction  to  the  people,  be  main- 
tained in  this  view  by  a  general  assessment  for  this  pur- 
pose.     Third,   That   every   man,    as   a   good   citizen,   be 

^  See  State  Archives,  copy  in  William  H.  Foote,  Id.,  pp.  536- 
538;  C.  F.  James,  Id.,  pp.  231-235. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  105 

obliged  to  declare  himself  attached  to  some  religious  com- 
munity, publicly  known  to  profess  the  belief  in  one  God, 
his  righteous  providence,  our  accountableness  to  him,  and 
a  future  estate  of  rewards  and  punishments.  Fourth,  That 
every  citizen  should  have  liberty  annually  to  direct  his 
assessed  proportion  to  such  community  as  he  chooses. 
Fifth,  That  twelve  titheables,  or  more,  to  the  amount  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  as  near  as  local  circum- 
stances will  admit,  shall  be  incorporated,  and  exclusively 
direct  the  application  of  the  money  contributed  for  their 
support." 

The  Presbytery  was  led  to  give  reluctant,  wavering  and 
inconsistent  assent  to  a  hypothetical  assessment,  because 
it  was  asseverated  that  some  form  of  assessment  zvas  in- 
evitable. It  had  the  courage,  be  it  remembered,  to  restate 
by  implications  and  to  vindicate  the  relation  of  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  powers  which  it  regarded  as  correct, 
even  while  making  the  concession.  Some  of  the  members 
of  Presbytery  were  highly  dissatisfied  with  the  assent, 
qualified,  even  though  it  was.  Moses  Hoge,  afterwards 
president  of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  was  one  of  these.^* 

While  the  Rev.  William  Graham,  rector  of  Liberty  Hall 
Academy,  and  Rev.  John  Blair  Smith,  president  of  Hamp- 
den-Sidney, are  chiefly  chargeable  for  the  contents  of  this 
memorial,  Mr.  Graham  seems  to  have  been  moved  to  take 
the  part  he  did  by  the  conviction  that  an  assessment  of 
some  sort  was  inevitable,  since  Mr.  Patrick  Henry  advo- 
cated it  and  so  many  citizens  favored  it;  and  even  the 
Rev.  John  Blair  Smith,  though  he  is  suspected  to  have 
entertained  temporarily  the  scheme  with  more  favor,  had 
the  hardihood  to  make  a  fling  at  Mr.  Henry,  in  1788,  for 

''See  sketch  of  Moses  Hoge,  D.  D.,  in  William  H.  Foote, 
Sketches  of  Virginia,  p.  557. 


io6  Vhkhnia  Presbyterianism 

his  advocacy  of  the  Assessment  Bill  of  1784.^^  Their 
"tolerable"  scheme  of  assessment  was  unlike  others,  in 
that  it  would  have  had  the  State  support  the  Mahomedan 
sects,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  Christian  sects,  if  it  felt  that  it 
ought,  to  support  religion  by  a  general  tax.  But  it  was 
misunderstood  by  friends  and  foes,  and  has  been  mis- 
represented down  to  this  day :  According  to  the  Journal 
of  the  House  of  Delegates,  October  session,  1784,  the 
united  clergy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  expressed  the 
opinion,  that,  "a.  general  assessment  for  the  support  of 
religion  ought  to  be  extended  to  those  who  profess  the 
public  worship  of  the  deity. ^^  Mr.  James  Madison  thought 
the  Presbyterian  clergy  semed  "as  ready  to  set  up  an 
establishment  which  is  to  take  them  in,  as  they  were  to  put 
down  that  which  shut  them  out."^^ 

The  October  Memorial  (1784)  is  the  ground  on  which 
partisan  writers  have  made  such  ugly  assertions,  as  that, 
"The  Presbyterians  .  .  .  broke  ranks  and  went  over  to 
the  Episcopalians  and  Methodists  in  favor  of  General  In- 
corporation and  General  Assessment  Bills," — assertions 
false  in  several  particulars. 

The  Presbyterian  laity  were  intolerant  of  this  "toler- 
able" scheme.^® 

Mr.  Bancroft  thus  characterizes  the  situation:  ."The 
Presbyterians  at  first  were  divided.  Their  clergy,  even 
while  they   held   that  human  legislation   should   concern 

"'William  Wirt  Henry,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches  of 
Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  II.',  p.  333. 

"^  William  C.  Rives  Life  and  Times  of  lames  Madison,  Vol. 
I.,  p.  601. 

'^  William  C.  Rives,  idem,  Vol.  I.,  p.  630. 

^See  here,  William  C.  Rives,  idem,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  609  and  630; 
see  also  Mr.  Bancroft's  words  incorporated  in  text. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  107 

human  affairs  alone,  that  conscience  and  rehgious  worship 
He  beyond  its  reach,  accepted  the  measure,  provided  it 
should  respect  every  human  belief,  'even  of  the  Mussul- 
man and  the  Hindoo.'  The  Presbyterian  laity,  accustomed 
to  support  their  own  ministry,  chose  rather  to  continue 
to  do  so."^® 

In  the  first  of  these  assertions,  Mr.  Bancroft  is  incor- 
rect in  impliedly  teaching  that  the  whole  body  of  the 
clergy  was  willing  to  have  the  assesment  even  on  the  plan. 
A'majority  of  the  Presbytery,  under  the  lead  of  two  able 
members,  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  if  an  assessment 
was  to  be  had,  in  order  to  its  being  tolerable,  it  must 
conform  to  a  given  plan ;  and  to  grant  that  the  exigencies 
of  the  State  might  make  such  a  plan  desirable.  Even  this 
anticipation  of  possible  defeat  of  their  preferred  theory, 
and  the  effort  to  prevent  as  far  as  possible  injustice  in 
that  event,  gave  profound  dissatisfaction  to  the  Presby- 
terian people. 

This  dissatisfaction  w^as  evinced  in  various  ways.  The 
Presbytery  was  sharply  interrogated  at  its  next  meeting. 
May  19,  1785,  as  to  its  meaning  in  the  Memorial  of  Oc- 
tober, 1784.  The  body  was  met  at  Bethel  in  Augusta 
County.  A  petition  was  presented  to  the  Presbytery  from 
the  session  of  Augusta  congregation,  requesting  an  ex- 
plication of  the  word  "liberal,  as  used  in  the  Presbytery's 
Memorial  of  last  fall ;  and  also  the  motives  and  end  of  the 
Presbytery  in  sending  it  to  the  Assembly."  .  .  .  "On 
motion,  the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery  was  taken — whether 
they  do  approve  of  any  kind  of  assessment  by  the  General 
Assembly  for  the  support  of  religion.  Presbytery  are 
tmanimously  against  such  a  measure:" 

Meanwhile,  a  bill  for  the  incorporation  of  the  clergy  of 

'"  George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  VI.,  p.  156. 


io8  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  had  been  introduced,  in 
the  fall  of  1784,  in  the  Virginia  Legislature;  of  which 
Mr.  James  Madison  has  given  the  following  description : 

"The  Episcopal  clergy  introduced  a  notable  project  for  re- 
establishing their  independence  of  the  laity.  The  foundation  of 
it  was  that  the  whole  body  should  be  legally  incorporated,  in- 
vested with  the  present  property  of  the  Church,  made  capable  of 
acquiring  indefinitely,  empowered  to  make  canon  and  by-laws  not 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  land;  and  incumbents,  when  once 
chosen  by  the  vestries,  to  be  irremovable  otherwise  than  by  sen- 
tence of  the  convocation.  Extraordinary  as  such  a  project  was, 
it  was  preserved  from  a  dishonorable  death  by  the  talents  of  Mr. 
Henry.    It  lies  over  for  another  session."  ^° 

During  the  same  session  a  bill  had  been  introduced, 
entitled  "A  Bill  Establishing  a  Provision  for  Teachers  of 
the  Christian  Religion."     The  preamble  was  as  follows : 

"  Whereas  the  general  diffusion  of  Christian  knowledge  hath 
a  natural  tendency  to  correct  the  morals  of  men,  restrain  their 
vices  and  preserve  the  peace  of  society,  which  cannot  be  effected 
without  a  competent  provision  for  learned  teachers,  who  may  be 
thereby  enabled  to  devote  their  time  and  attention  to  the  duty  of 
instructing  such  citizens  as,  from  their  circumstances  and  want 
of  education,  cannot  otherwise  attain  such  knowledge;  and  it  is 
judged  such  provision  may  be  made  by  the  Legislature  without 
counteracting  the  liberal  principle  heretofore  adopted  and  in- 
tended to  be  preserved  by  abolishing  all  distinctions  of  pre- 
eminence among  the  different  societies  or  communities  of  Chris- 
tians." 

This  act  passed  to  its  third  reading.  It  had  the  pat- 
ronage of  Patrick  Henry.  It  showed  no  partiality  for 
one  over  others  of  Christian  sects.  All  taxed  persons 
were  to  declare  to  what  denomination  of  Christians  they 
would  give  their  support.     If  they  would  not  specify  a 

^''  William  C.  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  lames  Madison,  Vol.  I., 
p.  562. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  109 

denomination,  their  assessments  were  to  go  to  the  support 
of  schools  of  learning  in  their  respective  counties. 

On  its  third  reading,  the  engrossed  bill  was  sent  out 
for  public  examination,  and  to  elicit  indications  as  to  the 
desires  of  the  people. 

There  was  general  and  free  discussion.  Hanover  Pres- 
bytery felt  that  Presbyterians  should  speak  out.  Accord- 
ingly, we  find  the  following  amongst  the  minutes  of  its 
May  meeting,  1785 : 

"  On  motion,  the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery,  and  likewise  of 
several  members  of  different  congregations  present  was  taken, 
whether  a  general  convention  of  the  Presbyterian  body  was  ex- 
pedient in  our  present  circumstances.  It  was  unanimously  agreed 
to;  and  an  invitation  was  accordingly  signed  by  the  ministers 
and  several  private  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the 
whole  body,  to  send  representatives  to  a  convention  proposed  to 
be  held  at  Bethel,  on  the  loth  day  of  next  August." 

Mr.  James  Madison  learns  of  this,  and  speaks  much 
more  approvingly  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy. 

On  the  29th  of  May  he  writes :  "The  adversaries  to 
the  assessment  begin  to  think  the  prospect  here  flattering 
to  their  wishes.  The  printed  bill  has  excited  great  dis- 
cussion, and  is  likely  to  prove  the  sense  of  the  community 
to  be  in  favor  of  the  liberty  now  enjoyed.  I  have  heard 
of  several  counties  where  the  late  representatives  have 
been  laid  aside  for  voting  for  the  bill,  and  not  a  single 
one  where  the  reverse  has  happened.  The  Presbyterian 
clergy,  too,  who  were,  in  general,  friends  to  the  scheme, 
are  already  in  another  tone — either  compelled  by  the 
laity  of  that  sect,  or  alarmed  at  the  probability  of  farther 
interference  of  the  legislature  if  they  begin  to  dictate  in 
matters  of  religion." 

On  the  2ist  of  June  he  again  writes:  "A  very  warm 
opposition- will  be  made  to  this  innovation   (the  general 


no  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

assessment)  b}^  the  people  of  the  middle  and  back  coun- 
ties, particularly  the  latter.  They  do  not  scruple  to  de- 
clare it  an  alarming  usurpation  on  their  fundamental 
rights ;  and  that,  though  the  General  Assembly  should 
give  it  the  form,  they  will  not  give  it  the  validity  of  a 
law.  If  there  be  any  limitation  to  the  power  of  the 
legislature — particularly  if  this  limitation  is  to  be  sought 
in  our  Declaration  of  Rights,  or  form  of  government — I 
own  the  bill  appears  to  me  to  warrant  this  language  of 
the  people."*^ 

The  Presbyterian  Convention,  called  to  meet  in  August, 
1785,  at  Bethel,  Augusta  County,  convened  at  the  ap- 
pointed time.  It  prepared,  chiefly  through  the  hand  of 
William  Graham,  again,  a  memorial  and  sent  it  forth  for 
signers.  This  paper  expresses  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
Presbyterians  of  the  time.  Of  it  their  posterity  may  well 
be  proud.    This  is  the  document : 

"  To  the  Honorable  th$  General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Virginia: 

"  The  Ministers  and  lay  Representatives  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Virginia,  assembled  in  convention,  beg  leave  to  address 
you. 

"As  citizens  of  the  State,  not  so  by  accident,  but  choice,  and 
having  willingly  conformed  to  the  system  of  civil  policy  adopted 
for  our  government  and  defended  it  with  the  foremost  at  the 
risk  of  everything  dear  to  us,  we  feel  ourselves  deeply  interested 
in  all  the  measures  of  the  Legislature. 

"  When  the  late  happy  Revolution  secured  to  us  an  exemption 
from  British  control,  we  hoped  that  the  gloom  of  injustice  and 
usurpation  would  have  been  forever  dispelled  by  the  cheering 
rays  of  liberty  and  independence.     This  inspired  our  hearts  with 

"  William  C.  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  James  Madison,  Vol. 
I.,  p.  630  fif.  These  "  back  counties  "  were  strongholds  of  the  Pres- 
byterians. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  hi 

resolution  in  the  most  distressful  scenes  of  adversity  and  nerved 
our  arm  in  the  day  of  battle.  But  our  hopes  have  since  been  over- 
cast with  apprehension  when  we  found  how  slowly  and  unwill- 
ingly ancient  distinctions  among  the  citizens  on  account  of  re- 
ligious opinions  were  removed  by  the  Legislature.  For  although 
the  glaring  partiality  of  obliging  all  denominations  to  support 
the  one  which  had  been  the  favorite  of  government,  was  pretty 
early  withdrawn,  yet  an  evident  predilection  in  favor  of  that 
church  still  subsisted  in  the  acts  of  the  Assembly.  Peculiar  dis- 
tinctions and  the  honor  of  an  important  name  were  still  con- 
tinued, and  these  are  considered  as  equally  partial  and  injurious 
with  the  ancient  emoluments.  Our  apprehensions  on  account  of 
the  continuance  of  these,  which  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to 
produce  jealous  animosities  and  unnecessary  contentions  among 
different  parties,  were  increased  when  we  found  that  they  were 
tenaciously  adhered  to  by  government  notwithstanding  the  re- 
monstrances of  several  Christian  societies.  To  increase  the  evil 
a  manifest  disposition  has  been  shown  by  the  State  to  consider 
itself  as  possessed  of  supremacy  in  spirituals,  aS  well  as  temporals, 
and  our  fears  have  been  realized  in  certain  proceedings  of  the 
General  Assembly  at  their  last  sessions.  The  engrossed  bill  for 
establishing  a  provision  for  the  teachers  of  the  Christian  religion 
and  the  act  for  incorporating  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
so  far  as  it  secures  to  that  church,  the  churches,  glebes,  etc.,  pro- 
cured at  the  expense  of  the  whole  community,  are  not  only  evi- 
dences of  this,  but  of  an  irnpolitic  partiality  which  we  are  sorry 
to  have  observed  so  long. 

"  We  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Virginia,  beg  leave  to  exercise  our  privilege  as  freemen  in  re- 
monstrating against  the  former  absolutely,  and  against  the  latter 
under  the  restrictions  above  expressed. 

"  We  oppose  the  bill, 

"  Because  it  is  a  departure  from  the  proper  lines  of  legislation ; 

"  Because  it  is  unnecessary  and  inadequate  to  its  professed 
end — impolitic,  in  many  respects — and  a  direct  violation  of  the 
Declaration  of  Rights. 

"  The  end  of  civil  governments  is  security  to  the  temporal 
liberty  and  property  of  mankind,  and  to  protect  them  in  the  free 
exercise  of  religion.  Legislators  are  invested  with  powers  from 
their  constituents  for  this  purpose  only  and  their  duty  extends 
no  farther.     Religion  is   altogether   personal,    and   the   right    of 


112  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

exercising  it  unalienable,  and  it  is  not,  cannot,  and  ought  not  to 
be,  resigned  to  the  will  of  the  society  at  large,  and  much  less  to 
the  Legislature,  which  derives  its  authority  wholly  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  people,  and  is  limited  by  the  original  intention  of  civil 
associations. 

"  We  never  resigned  to  the  control  of  government  our  right 
of  determining  for  ourselves  in  this  important  article,  and  acting 
agreeably  to  the  convictions  of  reason  and  conscience  in  discharg- 
ing our  duty  to  our  Creator.  And  therefore  it  would  be  an  un- 
warrantable stretch  of  prerogative  in  the  Legislature,  to  make 
laws  concerning  it,  except  for  protection.  And  it  would  be  a  fatal 
symptom  of  abject  slavery  in  us  were  we  to  submit  to  the  usurpa- 
tion. 

"  The  bill  is  also  an  unnecessary  and  inadequate  expedient  for 
the  end  proposed.  We  are  fully  persuaded  of  the  happy  influence 
of  Christianity  upon  the  morals  of  men,  but  we  have  never  known 
it,  in  the  history  of  its  progress,  so  effectual  for  this  purpose,  as 
when  left  to  its  native  excellence  and  evidence  to  recommend  it, 
under  the  all-directing  Providence  of  God,  and  free  from  the  in- 
trusive hand  of  the  civil  magistrate.  Its  Divine  Author  did  not 
think  it  necessary  to  render  it  dependent  on  earthly  governments. 
And  experience  has  shown  that  this  dependence,  where  it  has 
been  effected,  has  been  an  injury  rather  than  an  aid.  It  has 
introduced  corruption  among  the  teachers  and  professors  of  it, 
wherever  it  has  been  tried,  for  hundreds  of  years,  and  has  Peen 
destructive  of  genuine  morality  in  proportion  to  the  zeal  of  the 
powers  of  this  world  in  arming  it  with  the  sanction  of  legal  ter- 
rors or  inviting  to  its  profession  by  honors  and  rewards. 

"  It  is  urged,  indeed,  by  the  abettors  of  this  bill  that  it  would 
be  the  means  of  cherishing  religion  and  morality  among  the 
citizens.  But  it  appears  from  the  fact  that  these  can  be  promoted 
only  by  the  internal  conviction  of  the  mind  and  its  voluntary 
choice,  which  such  establishment  cannot  effect. 

"  We  further  remonstrate  against  the  bill  as  an  impolitic 
measure : 

"  It  disgusts  so  large  a  proportion  of  citizens  that  it  would 
weaken  the  influence  of  government  in  other  respects,  and  diffuse 
a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  rightful  exercise  of  constitutional 
authority,  if  enacted  into  a  law. 

"  It  partially  supposes  the  Quakers  and  Menonites  to  be  more 


And  Religious  Liberty.  113 

faithful  in  conducting  the  religious  interests  of  their  societies 
than  the  other  sects — which  we  apprehend  to  be  contrary  to  fact. 

"  It  unjustly  subjects  men  who  may  be  good  citizens,  but  who 
have  not  embraced  our  common  faith,  to  the  hardship  of  sup- 
porting a  system  they  have  not  as  yet  believed  the  truth  of,  and 
deprives  them  of  their  property,  for  what  they  do  not  suppose 
to  be  of  importance  to  them. 

"  It  establishes  a  precedent  for  farther  encroachments  by 
making  the  Legislature  judges  of  religious  truth.  If  the  Assem- 
bly have  a  right  to  determine  the  preference  between  Christianity 
and  the  other  systems  of  religion  that  prevail  in  the  world,  they 
may  also,  at  a  convenient  time,  give  a  preference  to  some  favored 
sect  among  Christians. 

"  It  discourages  the  population  of  our  country  by  alarming 
those  who  may  have  been  oppressed  by  religious  establishments 
in  other  countries  with  fears  of  the  same  in  this,  and  by  exciting 
our  own  citizens  to  emigrate  to  other  lands  of  greater  freedom. 

"  It  revives  the  principle  which  our  ancestors  contested  to  blood, 
of  attempting  to  reduce  all  religions  to  one  standard  by  the  force 
of  civil  authority. 

"And  it  naturally  opens  a  door  for  contention  among  citizens 
of  different  creeds  and  different  opinions  respecting  the  extent  of 
the  powers  of  government. 

"  The  bill  is  also  a  direct  violation  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights, 
which  ought  to  be  the  standard  of  all  laws.  The  sixteenth 
article  is  clearly  infringed  upon  by  it,  and  any  explication  which 
may  have  been  given  of  it  by  the  friends  of  this  measure  in  the 
Legislature  so  as  to  justify  a  departure  from  its  literal  construc- 
tion might  also  be  used  to  deprive  us  of  other  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  our  government. 

"  For  these  reasons  and  others  that  might  be  produced  we  con- 
ceive it  our  duty  to  remonstrate  and  protest  against  the  said 
bill,  and  earnestly  urge  that  it  may  not  be  enacted  into  a  law. 

"  We  also  wish  to  engage  your  attention  a  little  farther  while 
we  request  a  revision  of  the  act  for  incorporating  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  state  our  reasons  for  this  request.  We 
do  not  desire  to  oppose  the  incorporation  of  that  church  for  the 
better  management  of  its  temporalities;  neither  do  we  wish  to 
lessen  the  attachment  of  any  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
in  a  private  capacity  to  the  interests  of  that  church.  We  rather 
wish  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  forbearance  and  charity  towards  the 


114  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

members  of  it,  as  the  servants  of  one  common  Master  who  differ 
in  some  particulars  from  each  other.  But  we  cannot  consent  that 
they  shall  receive  particular  notice  or  favor  from  government  as 
a  Christian  society,  nor  peculiar  distinctions  or  emoluments. 

"  We  find  by  the  act  that  the  convenience  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  has  been  consulted  by  it,  in  the  management  of  their 
interests  as  a  religious  society  at  the  expense  of  other  denomina- 
tions. Under  the  former  establishment  there  were  perhaps  few 
men  who  did  not  at  length  perceive  the  hardships  and  injustice 
of  a  compulsory  law,  obliging  the  citizens  of  this  State  by  birth- 
right free,  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  a  religion  from  which 
their  reason  and  conscience  obliged  them  to  dissent.  Who  then 
would  not  have  supposed  that  the  same  sense  of  justice  which 
induced  the  Legislature  to  dissolve  the  grievous  establishment 
would  also  have  induced  them  to  leave  to  common  use  the  prop- 
erty in  churches,  glebes,  etc.,  which  had  been  acquired  by  common 
purchase. 

"  To  do  otherwise  was,  as  we  conceive,  to  suppose  that  long 
prescription  could  sanction  injustice,  and  that  to  persist  in  error 
is  to  alter  the  essential  difference  between  right  and  wrong.  As 
Christians  also,  the  subjects  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  are  wholly 
opposed  to  the  exercise  of  spiritual  powers  by  civil  rulers,  we 
conceive  ourselves  obliged  to  remonstrate  against  that  part  of 
the  incorporating  act  which  authorizes  and  directs  the  regulation 
of  spiritual  concerns.  This  is  such  an  invasion  of  Divine  prero- 
gative, that  it  is  highly  exceptionable  on  that  account,  as  well  as 
on  account  of  the  danger  to  which  it  exposes  our  religious  liber- 
ties. Jesus  Christ  hath  given  sufficient  authority  to  his  Church 
for  every  lawful  purpose,  and  it  is  forsaking  his  authority  and 
direction  for  that  of  fallible  men,  to  expect  or  to  grant  the  sanc- 
tion of  civil  law  to  authorize  the  regulation  of  any  Christian 
society.  It  is  also  dangerous  to  our  liberties,  because  it  creates 
an  invidious  distinction  on  account  of  religious  opinions,  and 
exalts  to  a  superior  pitch  of  grandeur,  as  the  Church  of  the 
State,  a  society  which  ought  to  be  contented  with  receiving  the 
same  protection  from  government  which  the  other  societies  enjoy, 
without  aspiring  to  superior  notice  or  regard.  The  Legislature 
assumes  to  itself  by  that  law  the  authoritative  direction  of  this 
church  in  spirituals,  and  can  be  considered  in  no  other  light  than 
its  head,  peculiarly  interested  in  its  welfare ;  a  matter  which 
cannot  be  indifferent  to  us,  though  this  authority  has  only  as  yet 


And  Religious  Liberty.  115 

been  extended  to  those  who  have  requested  it  or  acquiesced  in  it. 
This  Church  is  now  considered  as  the  only  regular  church  in  the 
view  of  the  law,  and  it  is  thereby  raised  to  a  state  of  unjust  pre- 
eminence over  others.  And  how  far  it  may  increase  in  dignity 
and  influence  in  the  State  by  these  means  at  a  future  day,  and 
especially  when  aided  by  the  emoluments  which  it  possesses  and 
the  advantages  of  funding  a  very  large  sum  of  money  without 
account,  time  alone  can  discover.  But  we  esteem  it  our  duty 
to  oppose  the  act  thus  early,  before  the  matter  be  entangled  in 
precedents  more  intricate  and  dangerous.  Upon  the  whole,  there- 
fore, v.e  hope  that  the  exceptionable  parts  of  this  act  will  be 
repealed  by  your  honorable  House,  and  that  all  preferences,  dis- 
tinctions and  advantages  contrary  to  the  fourth  article  of  the 
Declaration  of  Rights  will  be  forever  abolished. 

"  We  regret  that  full  equality  in  all  things  and  ample  protection 
and  security  to  religious  liberty  were  not  incontestably  fixed  in 
the  constitution  of  the  government.  But  we  earnestly  request 
that  the  defect  may  be  remedied  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
Legislature  to  do  it  by  adopting  the  bill  in  the  revised  laws 
for  establishing  religious  freedom.  (Chap.  LXXXII.  of  the 
report.) 

"  That  Heaven  may  illuminate  your  minds  with  all  that  wisdom 
which  is  necessary  for  the  important  purpose  of  your  deliberation 
is  our  earnest  wish.  And  we  beg  leave  to  assure  you  that  how- 
ever warmly  we  may  engage  in  preserving  our  religion  free  from 
the  shackles  of  human  authority  and  opposing  claims  of  spiritual 
domination  in  civil  powers  we  are  zealously  disposed  to  support 
the  government  of  our  country  and  to  maintain  a  due  submission 
to  the  lawful  exercise  of  its  authority. 

"Signed  by  order  of 'the  Convention. 

"  John  Todd,  CJiairman. 

"Attest,  Daniel  McCalla,  Clerk. 

Bethel,  Augusta  County,  13^/1  August,  1785."  " 

Under  the  stimulus  of  the  opposition  to  the  Bill  of 
Assessment,  Mr.  Madison  prepared  his  "Masterly"  "Me- 

*^In  Virginia  State  Archives.  Copy  in  Foote's  Sketches  of  Vir- 
ginia, pp.  342-344;  also  in  C.  F.  James,  The  Struggle  for  Religious 
Liberty  in  Virginia,  pp.  236-240. 


ii6  Virginia  Presbyterianism  j 

morial  and  Remonstrance"  to  the  legislature  against  the 
bill.  Madison,  "whom  Witherspoon  had  imbued  with 
theological  lore,"*^  with  his  political  philosophy  and  his 
practical  spirit,  discussed  the  question  of  an  establishment 
of  religion  by  law,  from  every  possible  point  of  view — of 
natural  right,  the  inherent  limitations  of  the  civil  power, 
the  interests  of  religion  itself,  the  genius  and  precepts  of 
Christianity,  the  warning  lessons  of  history,  the  dic- 
tates of  a  wise  and  sober  policy — and  treated  them  all 
with  a  consummate  power  of  reasoning,  and  a  force  of 
appeal  to  the  understandings  and  hearts  of  the  people, 
that  bore  down  every  opposing  prejudice,  and  precluded 
reply.  It  was  dififused  extensively  throughout  the  State, 
and  was  rapidly  covered  with  the  signature  of  voters. 

"When  the  Assembly  met  in  October,  the  table  of  the 
House  of  Delegates  almost  sank  under  the  weight  of  the 
accumulated  copies  of  the  memorials  sent  forward  from 
the  different  counties,  each  with  its  long  and  dense  col- 
umns of  subscribers.  The  fate  of  the  assessment  was 
sealed.  The  manifestation  of  the  public  judgment  was  too 
unequivocal  and  overwhelming  to  leave  the  faintest  hope 
to  the  friends  of  the  measure.  It  was  abandoned  without 
a  struggle."** 

December  17th,  an  engrossed  bill,  entitled  "An  Act  for 
the  Establishment  of  Religious  Freedom,"  passed  the 
House.  This  bill  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  bill,  with  some 
"mutilations  in  the  preamble." 

The  following  is  the  bill : 


*'  George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI.,  p. 
156. 

"  William  C.  Rives,  Life  and  Times  of  James  Madison,  Vol.  I., 
pp.  632. 


And  Religious  Liberty.  117 

"AN  ACT  FOR  ESTABLISHING  RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM." 

"  'Whereas,  Almighty  God  hath  created  the  mind  free ;  that  all 
attempts  to  influence  it  by  temporal  punishments  or  burdens,  or 
by  civil  incorporations,  tend  only  to  beget  habits  of  hypocrisy  and 
meanness,  and  are  a  departure  from  the  plan  of  the  Holy  Author 
of  our  religion,  who,  being  Lord  both  of  body  and  mind,'  yet 
chose  not  to  propagate  it  by  coercions  on  either,  as  was  in  his 
almighty  power  to  do;  that  the  impious  presumptiors  of  legisla- 
tors and  rulers,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  who  being  themselves 
but  fallible  and  uninspired  men,  have  assumed  dominion  over  the 
faith  of  others,  setting  up  their  own  opinions  and  modes  of 
thinking  as  the  only  true  and  infallible,  and  as  such  endeavoring 
to  impose  them  on  others,  hath  established  and  maintained  false 
religions  over  the  greater  part  of  the  world  and  through  all  time ; 
that  to  compel  a  man  to  furnish  contributions  of  money  for  the 
propagation  of  opinions  which  he  disbelieves  is  sinful  and  tyran- 
nical; that  even  the  forcing  him  to  support  this  or  that  teacher 
of  his  own  religious  persuasion  is  depriving  him  of  the  comfort- 
able liberty  of  giving  his  contributions  to  the  particular  pastor 
whose  morals  he  would  make  his  pattern,  and  whose  powers  he 
feels  most  persuasive  to  righteousness  and  is  withdrawing  from 
the  ministry  those  temporary  rewards  which,  proceeding  from  an 
approbation  of  their  personal  conduct,  are  an  additional  incitement 
to  earnest  and  unremitting  labors  for  the  instruction  of  mankind; 
that  our  civil  rights  have  no  dependence  on  our  religious  opinions 
any  more  than  our  opinions  in  physics  and  geometry ;  that,  there- 
fore, the  prescribing  any  citizens  as  unworthy  of  public  confidence 
by  laying  upon  him  an  incapacity  of  being  called  to  offices  of 
trust  or  emolument,  unless  he  profess  or  renounce  this  or  that 
religious  opinion  is  depriving  him  injuriously  of  those  privileges 
and  advantages  to  which  in  common  with  his  fellow  citizens  he 
has  a  natural  right ;  that  it  tends  only  to  corrupt  the  principles  of 
that  religion  it  is  meant  to  encourage  by  bribing  with  a  monopoly 
of  worldly  honors  and  emoluments  those  who  will  externally  pro- 
fess and  conform  to  it;  that  though  indeed  those  are  criminal  who 
do  not  withstand  such  temptations,  yet  neither  are  those  innocent 
who  lay  the  bait  in  their  way ;  that  to  suffer  the  civil  magistrate 
to  intrude  his  power  into  the  field  of  opinion,  and  to  restrain  the 
profession  or  propagation  of  principles  on  supposition  of  their  ill 
tendency  is  a  dangerous  fallacy,  which  at  once  destroys  all  re- 


ii8  Virginia  Presbyterianism 

ligious  liberty,  because  he  being,  of  course,  judge  of  that  ten- 
dency, will  make  his  opinions  the  rule  of  judgment  and  approve 
or  condemn  the  sentiments  of  others  only  as  they  shall  square 
with  or  differ  from  his  own ;  that  it  is  time  enough  for  the  right- 
ful purposes  of  civil  government  for  its  officers  to  interfere  when 
principles  break  out  into  overt  acts  against  peace  and  good  order, 
and,  finally,  that  truth  is  great,  and  will  prevail,  if  left  to  herself ; 
that  she  is  the  proper  and  sufficient  antagonist  to  error,  and  has 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  conflict,  unless  by  human  interposition 
disarmed  of  her  natural  weapons,  free  argument  and  debate,  error 
ceasing  to  be  dangerous  when  it  is  permitted  freely  to  contradict 
them. 

"  2d.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly^  That  no  man  shall 
be  compelled  to  frequent  or  support  any  religious  worship,  place 
or  ministry  whatsoever,  nor  shall  be  enforced,  restrained,  mo- 
lested or  burthened  in  his  body  or  goods,  nor  shall  otherwise 
sufifer  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions  or  belief;  but  that 
all  men  shall  be  free  to  profess,  and,  by  arguments,  maintain  their 
opinion  in  matters  of  religion,  and  that  the  same  shall  in  no 
wise  diminish,  enlarge  or  affect  their  civil  capacities. 

"  3d.  And  though  we  well  know  that  this  Assembly,  elected 
by  the  people  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  legislation  only,  have 
no  power  to  restrain  the  acts  of  succeeding  Assemblies,  consti- 
tuted with  powers. equal  to  our  own;  and  that,  therefore,  to  de- 
clare this  act  to  be  irrevocable,  would  be  of  no  effect  in  law ;  yet 
we  are  free  to  declare,  and  do  declare,  that  the  rights  hereby 
asserted  are  of  the  natural  rights  of  mankind,  and  that  if  any  act 
shall  be  hereafter  passed  to  repeal  the  present  or  to  narrow  its 
operation,  such  act  will  be  an  infringement  of  natural  right." 

The  principles  of  this  statute  were  carried  by  James 
Madison  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  by  its 
first  amendment,  which  contained  the  provision  that  "Con- 
gress shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

Concerning  the  relation  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the  ten 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
ratified  in  1 791,  Mr.  William  C.  Rives  well  says  :  "Nothing 
short  of  the  high  standing  of  Mr,  Madison  in  the  public 


And  Religious  Liberty.  119 

councils,  and  the  deference  accorded  to  his  opinions  and 
his  virtues,  could  have  secured  a  favorable  reception  for 
propositions  so  counter  to  the  prepossessions  of  the  body 
to  which  they  were  addressed."*^  But  Mr.  Madison,  great 
friend  as  he  was  of  religious  liberty  and  ready  to  form 
bulwarks  for  its  protection,  was,  at  first,  indisposed  to  the 
amendments.  "Until  he  met  Mr.  Henry  in  debate  on  the 
floor  of  the  Virginia  Convention  (called  to  consider  the 
Federal  Constitution),  Mr.  Madison  had  manifested  no 
disposition  to  amend  the  Constitution.  Pressed  by  the 
arguments  of  Mr.  Henry,  he  agreed  to  advocate  amend- 
ments in  order  to  secure  ratification.  Afterwards,  when 
defeated  for  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Henry,  and  having  to 
carry  a  district  demanding  amendments,  he  was  forced  to 
pledge  himself  to  his  constituents  to  advocate  them,  in 
order  to  secure  his  election.  It  was  thus,  by  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Henry,  the  great  leader  of  the  anti-Federalists, 
that  he  was  driven  to  the  course  he  pursued,  and  in 
which  he  dared  not  halt.  While  he  disobeyed  the  com- 
mand of  the  Virginia  Convention,  in  not  offering  all  the 
amendments  that  body  proposed,  yet  what  he  ac- 
complished may  well  be  set  down  as  so  much  to  the  credit 
of  Mr.  Henry  and  the  earnest  men  who  acted  with  him. 
And  it  is  doubtless  true,  as  Mr.  Madison  said,  that  he 
accomplished  all  that  it  was  possible  for  him  to  do,  even 
if  he  had  approved  of  and  urged  all  the  amendments  pro- 
posed by  Virginia."**^ 

Thus,  the  man  who  had  put  the  world  into  his  debt  for 
the  plank  on  religion  in  Mason's  draft  of  the  Virginia 


"William  C.  Rives,  Life  and   Times  of  lames  Madison,  Vol. 
III.,  p.  40. 

"  William  Wirt  Henry,  Life  and  Correspondence  and  Speeches 
of  Patrick  Henry,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  445  ff. 


I20  Virginia  Plesbyterianism 

Bill  of  Rights,  shares  largely  in  the  honor  with  Mr.  Madi- 
son, in  putting  it,  as  perfected  by  the  latter,  into  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States. 

The  neutral  religious  character  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  co-worked  with  the  influences  which 
had  availed  to  give  it  this  character,  to  delete,  by  degrees, 
the  provisions  which  .implied  the  obligations  to  a  particular 
religion,  inwrought  into  the  organic  laws  of  the  older 
States. 

Thus  the  principles  which  Virginia  Presbyterians  had 
done  so  much  to  further,  triumphed  throughout  the  coun- 
try. "The  separation  of  the  Church  and  the  State  by  the 
establishment  of  religious  equality  was  followed  by  the 
wonderful  result  that  it  was  approved  of  everywhere, 
always  and  by  all."*^ 

Presbyterians  are  not  entitled  to  exclusive  praise.  Did 
not  the  Episcopal  Church  furnish  a  considerable  quota,  in 
the  course  of  the  struggle,  to  aid  in  the  process  of  dis- 
establishing their  own  church?  Did  they  not  furnish 
heroic  and  able  leaders?  It  is  conceded  by  all  that  the 
Baptists  did  yeoman  service  in  the  cause.  But  it  is  clear 
that  the  great  mass  of  Presbyterians  were  always  true  to 
the  cause;  that  they  generally  furnished  the  effective 
leadership  in  the  fight  for  it;  that  they  excelled  in  the 
pleas  which  were  put  forth  in  behalf  of  "soul  liberty;" 
and  that  they  made  the  largest  contribution  to  the  educa- 
tion, severally,  of  Mr.  Patrick  Henry,  and  Mr.  James 
Madison,  the  great  statesmen,  who,  more  than  any  other 
statesmen  of  the  time,  wrought  successfully  to  the  legal 
and  constitutional  recognition  of  religious  liberty.  They 
made  a  struggle  toward  and  for  religious  liberty,  which, 

"  George  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI.. 
P-  123 


And  Religious  Liberty.  121 

for  length,  persistence,  tactfulness,  resourcefulness,  effi- 
ciency and  general  consistency,  united  with  a  regard  for 
the  rights  of  others,  challenges  the  highest  admiration. 

It  may  well  be  believed  that  had  Presbyterians  been  in 
the  majority  in  Virginia,  they  would  have  given  to  the 
people  full  religious  liberty  much  more  quickly.  "Nor 
was  the  demand  by  Presbyterians  for  equality  confined  to 
Virginia,  where  they  were  in  a  minority,"  says  Mr.  Ban- 
croft ;  "^'it  was  from  Witherspoon,  of  New  Jersey,  that 
Madison  imbibed  the  lesson  of  perfect  freedom  in  mat- 
ters of  conscience.  When  the  Constitution  of  that  State 
was  framed  by  a  convention  composed  chiefly  of  Presby- 
terians, they  established  perfect  liberty  of  conscience 
without  the  blemish  of  a  test."*^ 

^'George  Bancroft  History   of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI.,  p. 
123. 


INDEX. 


Accomac  county,  13,  1(5,  26. 

Act  establishing  religious  free- 
dom, of  1785,  117,  118. 

Act  of  Toleration,  English,  14, 
15,  59. 

,  efforts  to  secure  its  ap- 
plication in  the  American 
Coloiiies,  15,  5(3. 

,  discussed,  17-23,  33,  b5, 

65-69. 

Act  of  Uniformity  of  1662,  9. 

Act  of  UrifonnUy  of  1642,  12. 

Act,  Stamp  Act,  57. 
resolutions  against,  58. 
consequences  of,  59. 

Acts  of  1755  and  1758,  49,  52. 

Augusta  county.  County  Com- 
mittee of,  memoralizes  Legis- 
lature, of  1776,  81,  62. 

Alcoran,  84. 

Anderson,  Rev.  James,  28,  65. 

Armstrong  Rev.  James,  75. 

Assessment,  General,  of  the  kind 
proposed    by   the    state,    87, 

.    88,  99. 

,  opposed  by  Presbyter- 
ians, 110,  115. 

— ,  of    the    only    kind    to 

which    Hanover      Presbytery 
would  give  assent,  100-115. 

,  misunderstood  and  un- 


happy, 101. 
Avery,  Dr.  Benjamin,  36,  37. 
Baird,  C.  W.,  61. 
Baltimore,  Lord,  79. 
Bancroft,  George,  History  of  the 

United  istates,  referred  to,  10, 

72,  78,  107,  116. 
Baptists,  7,  54,  55. 
Barbadoes,  13,  20. 
Bekely,  19, 


Berkeley,  Sir  William,  instruc- 
tions to,  of  1062,  11. 

,  betrays  religious  nar- 
rowness, 12. 

"Bill  Establishing  a  Provision 
for  the  Teaching  of  Religion," 
of  1784,"  108,  109. 

"Bill  for  Incorporation  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
of  1784,  108. 

Bill  of  Rights,  Virginia,  17fr, 
80,  83. 

Bill  of  Toleration,  of  1772,  64, 
65. 

Blair,  Rev.  Samuel,  31. 

Blue  Ridge,  20,  29,  41,  47. 

Boston,  Brethren  of  the  minis- 
try at.  Letter  of,  25. 

Bowen,  L.  P.,  i7,  24. 

Boyd,  Rev.  Adam,  75. 

Bratton,  Colonel,  76. 

Briggs,  C.  A.,  American  Preshy- 
terianism,  referred  to,  10,  25, 
01,  70,  75,  76. 

Burgesses,  House  of,  Religious 
narrowness  of,  11,  12,  50,  51, 
53. 

Burke's  History  of  Virginia,  34. 

Cabell,  Colonel  William,  64. 

Caldwell,  Rev.  David,  75. 

Caldwell,  Rev.  James,  75. 

Caldwell,  John,  27. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  27. 

Cannon,  Rev.  John,  50. 

Campbell,  Colonel,  76. 

Charles  II.,  y. 

Church  and  State,  How  con- 
nected,  79. 

,  forces  which  worked  for 

the  separaton  of,  7,  8,  77-80, 
110,  115. 


124 


Virginia  Presbyterianism 


Church  and  State,  the  proper 
relations    between,    87ff. 

Church  of  England  in  Early 
Virginia,  9,  11. 

Church,  Protestant  Episcopal, 
petition  of,  in  1784,  99. 

Civil  Government  should  con- 
cern themselves  only  with,  84. 

Claverhouse,  14. 

Cleaveland,  Colonel,  76. 

Clergy  of  the  Established 
Church  in  Virginia,  9,  10,  31, 
36,  47,  48,  53. 

,  their  maintenance,  48. 

,  memoralize  Legislature 

of  1776,  81. 

College  of  New  Jersey,  38. 

Colonists  of  Virginia,  early,  9. 

committee  to  revise  laws  of  Vir- 
ginia, 91. 

Convention,  Virginia,  of  1776, 
77. 

Cornbury,  Lord,  19ff. 

Corporation  Act,  15. 

Council,  Governor,  and  Council 
of  Virginia,  narrowness  of, 
33,  37,  43,  45. 

Cowpens,  Battle  of,  75. 

Crashowe,  W.,  10. 

Cumming,  Rev.  Alexander,  60. 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  10. 

Dalziel,  14. 

Davies,  Rev.  Samuel,  31,  53. 

,  parentage  and  qualities, 

31,  32. 

-,  approaches  to  Hanover, 


32,  33. 


effectiveness 


preacher  in  his  field,  34. 

,  size  of  his  parish,  34,  35. 

,  struggles  for   licensure 

of  preaching  places,  35ff. 
,  letter  to  Dr.  Benjamin 

Avery,  36. 
,  efforts    to    secure    the 


legal  rights  of  dissenters,  37, 
40flF. 

,  missionary  journeys  of, 

38. 


,  his  political  services  in 

the  French-Indian  war,  41ff. 


Davies,  introduces  other  min- 
isters  into  his  territory,  42. 

,  mission  to  England,  3sii. 

,   made   president  of   the 

College  of  New  Jersey,  43. 

,   place  in   religious   and 

civil  history  of  Virginia,  44, 
45. 

,     influence    on     Patrick 


Henry,  44,  53. 
Dickson,  Major,  76. 
Dissenters,  condition  of,  in  the 

Colony,  9,  14,  82ff. 
,  persecution  of,  ■  12,   38, 

39. 


,  plan  devised  by  which 

they  were  to  force  licensing 
preaching  places,  40. 

,  growth  of,  63,  64. 

,  petition  Legislature,  80, 

81,  82ff. 

Dutch  Reformed,  73,  76. 

Elders,  Presbyterian,  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  75, 
76. 

Elizabeth  River,  11,  26. 

Established  Church,  uses  of,  52, 
85. 

Establishment  demolished,  92, 
94,  96. 

Fleming,  John,  58. 

Foote,  William  H.,  Sketches  of 
Virginia,  referred  to,  16,  24, 
36,  37,  38,  44,  45,  64,  85,  90, 
98  105,  115. 

Force,  Peter,  referred  to,  24. 

Fredericksburg,  91. 

French-Indian  War,  41,  43,  57. 

Froude,  James  A.,  quoted,  46. 

General  Assessment,  87,  88. 

George  II.,  rebuked  by  Davies, 
39. 

Gooch,  Governor  William,  27,  29 

,  letter  of  Synod  of  Phil- 
adelphia to,  28,  65. 

,  why  ready    to    promise 

tolerance  to  Valley  Presby- 
terians, 29. 

,     angered     at    Hanover 

county  Presbyterians,  31. 


And  Religious  Liberty. 


[25 


Government,  English,  breadth 
of  in  regard  to  religion,  11. 

Graham,  Rev.  William,  61,  100, 
105,  110. 

Great  Britain's  oppressive  treat- 
ment of  the  colonies,  57. 

Green,  Rev.  Jacob,  75. 

Hall,  Rev.  James,  75. 

Hallam,  Henry,  15. 

Hawks,  F.  L.,  48. 

Hanover  county  Presbyterians, 
29fr. 

,  origin  of,  29,  30. 

,  treatment  of,  30ff. 

,  their  difficulties  in  find- 
ing a  name  for  themselves, 
30. 

,  history  of,  31flF. 

Hanover  Presbytery,  43ff. 

,  organized,  43. 

,     remonstrates     against 

Toleration  bill  of  1772, 
64-69. 

,  memorials  of  to  Legis- 
lature of  1776,  82-85. 

,  to  Legislature  of  1777, 

87-90. 

,  to  Legislature  of  spring 

of   1784,  94-98. 

,  to  Legislature  of  fall  of 

1784,  99-104. 

,  to  Legislature  of  1785, 


110-115. 

,  on  assessment  schemes, 

100-107,  109,  110-115. 

Harris,  Samuel,  54. 

Hennings,  Statutes  at  Large,  re- 
ferred to  12,  49,  50. 

Henry,  Mrs.  John,  45. 

Henry,  Patrick,  46ff. 

,  moulded  by  Presbyter- 
ian influence,  45,  46. 

,   argument    of    Parsons 

ease,  5  Iff. 

,  defence     of     persecuted 

Baptist,  54. 

,  opposition  to  the  Stamp 

Act,  57-59. 

,  his  hand  in  the  Virginia 

Bill  of  Rights,  77. 


Henry,   Pat'k   hand   in   separa- 
tion of  Church  and  State,  80. 
,  advocate  of  general  as- 
sessment, 99,  106,  i09. 
,  insists  on  amendments 


to  the  Constitution  of  the 
U.  S.,  one  of  which  express- 
ed the  principle  of  religious 
liberty,  119,120. 

Henry,  Rev.  Robert,  42. 

Henry,  William  Wirt,  discovers 
remonstrance  of  Hanover 
Presbytery  of  1774,  69. 

,     Life,      Correspondence 

and  Speeches  of  Patrick  Hen- 
ry, referred  to,  29,  33,  46,  49, 
53,  55,  59,  64,  72,  77,  80,  82, 
86,  106,  119. 

Hill,  Rev.  William,  24. 

Hindoo  Religion,  92. 

Hite,  Joist,  20. 

Hoge,  Rev.  Moses,  105. 

Huck's  Defeat,  75,  76. 

Hugar,  76. 

Huguenots,  13,  54,  76. 

Hunt,  Rev.  Robert,  9. 

Hutchinson's  History  of  the 
Province  of  Mass.  Bay,  25. 

Intolerance,  Religious,  31. 

Jackson,  William,  17. 

James,  C.  P.,  Struggle  for  Re- 
ligious Liberty  in  Virginia, 
referred  to,  51,  81,  85,  98,  99, 
104,  115. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  86,  87,  91, 
92,  116. 

Johnston,  George,  58,  59. 

Kettletas,  Rev.  Abraham,  75. 

King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  75. 

Laws,  severe  against  Dissenters, 
11,  12, 

Lee,  Henry,  61. 

Lee,  Thomas  L.,  91. 

Legislature  of  1776,  86. 

Liberty,  civil  and  religious, 

,views  of  the  Scotch-Irish 

on,  26. 

,  favored  by  Providence, 

43,  46. 

-,  many    forces     working 


for,  7,  8,  46,  47. 


126 


Virginia  Presbyterianism 


liberty,    discussed    by    Presby- 
terians in  New  York,  60. 

,  denounced     by    Presby- 
terians, 76. 

(See    memorials  of    Hanover 
Presbytery. ) 

,  guaranteed  in  Virginia 

Bill  of  Rights,  78. 

,  Struggle  over  religious 

liberty  in  Legislature  of  1776, 
86,  87. 

,  Presbyterians  ask  l^eg- 

islature  of  1785  to  enact  Jef- 
ferson bill  as  law,  110-115. 

,  "Act    for    Establishing 

Religious  Freedom,"  117,  118. 

,   principle    of    religious 

freedom  embedded  in  the  Con- 
stitution  of  the  U.   S.J 

78,   118-1-J. 

,  Presbyterians   share  in 


furthering  it,   120-121. 

Lutherans,"  Hanover  Presby- 
terians call  themselves  so,  30. 

,  changing  Bill  of  Rights, 

61-63. 


,   hand   in   separation   of 

Church  and   State,  80. 

agency  in  securing  the 


adoption  of  the  Virginia  laws 
in   1785,  91. 

harsh  views  of  Presby- 


terians, 106. 

,   describes    bill   of    1784 

for  the  incorporation  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
108. 

,     pleased,    again,     with 

Presbyterians,  109-116. 

,  his  memorial  and  re- 
monstrance, 116. 

,  carries  principle  of  re- 
ligious liberty  into  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States, 
118-120. 

Magnalia  of  Cotton  Mather,  D. 
D.,  11. 

Makemie,  Francis,  13,  14,  16, 
17,  25,  55. 

,  arrest  and  trial  of,  17, 

25. 


Marion,  General  Francis,  76. 
Maryland,  11,  12,  13, 
Mason,  George,  77',  91,  120. 
IVIaury,  Rev.  James,  50,  52,  53. 
McCall,  Rev.  Daniel,  75. 
McCalla,  Rev.  Daniel,  115. 
McWhorter,  Rev.  Alexander,  75. 
Memorials  and  Petitions  to  the 

Legislature,    80,    bo,    98,    99, 

100. 
Memorials  of  Hanover   Presby- 
.      tery : 

that  of  1776,  82-85. 

that  of  1777,  87-90. 

that  of  1784,  April,  93-98. 

that  of  1784,  October.  100-104. 

that  of  1785,  110-115. 
Merid.eth,  Colonel,  46. 
Methodists,  81. 
Mohammetan  religion,  92. 
Mohammed,  84. 
Morgan,  General,  75. 
Mormonism,  7. 
Morrow,  Major  Samuel,  76. 
Murray,  Rev.  John,  75. 
Nansemond  county  Puritans, 

10,  12.  13. 
Neill.  E.  D.,  Works  of,  referred 

to,  10,  11. 
New  England,  appeared  to  for 

ministei-s,  10. 
,  emigrated   to  by  Puri- 
tans, 11. 
Nicholas,   Robert   Carter,   86. 
Opeckon,  26. 
Orange,    William    of,    and     his 

wife,  Mary,  15. 
Parson's  Cause,  49-53,  56. 
Patillo,  Rev.  Henry,  75. 
Peace  of  Paris,  57. 
Pendleton.  45,  oo,  86,  91. 
Penn,  William,  79. 
Petitions  and  memorials  to  the 
Legislatures  of  Virginia: 

to  that  of  1776.  80-85. 

to  that  of  1777,  87-90. 

to  that  of  1784,94-98,102-104 

to  that  of  1785,  110-115. 
Pickens,  General,  76. 
Potomoke,  26. 


And  Religious  Liberty. 


127 


Presbyierians,  American  friends 
of  American  Independence, 
70-76. 

Presbyterians  in  Hanover  coun- 
ty (see  Hanover  county  Pres- 
byterians). 

Presbyterians  m  North  Caro- 
lina, 71. 

Presbyterians  in  Southwest  Vir- 
ginia, 70,  71. 

Presbyterians  in  the  Valley  of 
Virginia  fix  upon  preaching 
places  without  license,  44. 

Presbyterians  in  Virginia,  7,  8, 
13,  26,  29,  44,  59,  61,  63,  70, 
71,82,  106.  • 

Presbvterians  maligned,  107, 
110-115. 

Presbytery  of  Hanover,  43,  64- 
69. 

,   ask  for   larger  liberty, 

70. 

,  memc-alize  Legislature 

of  1776.  81. 

,  and  of  1777,  87-90. 

,  and  of  1784  twice,  94- 

98,  99-107. 

,  on  general  assessments, 

99-107,  109.  110-115. 

Presbytery  of  Laggan,  13,  14. 

Preston,  Thomas  L.,  71. 

Prince  Edward  county,  sundry 
inhabitants  of,  80. 

Princeton  College,  61. 

Progress  into  religious  liberty, 
57-121. 

Providence  favoring  liberty  of 
religion,  43,  46. 

Puritanism  in  New  Jersey,  73. 

Puritanism  in  New  York,  60-72. 

Puritans,  percentage  of,  and 
character  of,  in  Colonial  Vir- 
ginia, 10,  11,  13,  83. 

Quakers,  7,  15. 

Qualification  of  Makemie  under 
the  Toleration  Act,  16. 

Queries  on  the  subject  of  relig- 
ious establishments,  86. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  77. 

Randolph,  Peyton,  34,  35,  43, 
45,  58. 


Records  of  Presbyterian  Church, 
33,  74. 

Revolution,  English,  of  1688,  15 

Revolutionary  War,  59,  60,  70. 

Rice,  Rev.  David,  69,  87. 

Rives,  William  C,  Life  ana  Let- 
ters of  Madison,  referred  to, 
61,  62,  77,  78,  106,  107,  108, 
110,  116,  liy. 

Roan,  Rev.  John.  30. 

Robinson,  Rev.  William,  30. 

Rodgers,  Rev.  John,  33,  34,  75. 

Sankey,  Rev.  Richard,  90. 

Scotch,  13,  26. 

Scotch-Irish : 

of  Mecklenburg,  N.  C,  71,  72. 
of  Southwest  Virginia,  70,  71. 
of  Virginia  generally,  13,  26, 
38,  59. 

Scott,  John  Morin,  60. 

Sermons  of  Samuel  Davies,  41, 
42,  43,  44. 

Sevier,  Colonel,  76. 

Shelley,  Colonel,  76. 

Smith,  Rev.  John  Blair,  61. 

Smith,  Rev.  Sanuel  Stanhope, 
61. 

Smith.  William.  60. 

Smythe,  Rev.  Thomas,  76. 

Stamp  Act,  57. 

,  resolutions  against,  58. 

,  brought  on  Revolution- 
ary War,  59. 

State,  Church  and  forces  which 
worked  for  the  separation  of, 
7,  8. 

Stennet,  Rev.  Dr.,  39. 

Stuart,  James,  15. 

Stuarts,  restoration  of,  to  the 
English  throne,  12. 

Sumpter,  Colonel,  76. 

Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, pastoral  letter  of,  73, 
74. 

Synod  of  Philadelphia,  27. 

Tennent,  Rev.  Gilbert,  38. 

Tennent,  Rev.  William,  Jr.,  31, 
75. 

Test  Act,   15. 

Tobacco  Legislation,  48,  49,  50ff. 

Todd,  Rev.  John,  43,  85,  115. 


:28 


Virginia  Presbyterianism 


Toleration,  Act  of,   14,   15,   16, 

27. 
,  discussed    by  Makemie 

and  Cornbury,   17-23. 

-: ,  by  Davies,  33-35. 

by  Hanover  Presbytery, 


65-69. 

,   a   shield   to   Presbyter- 
ians, 59. 

bill  of  1772,  64,  65. 


Trevilian,  Captain,  52. 
Valley  of  Virginia: 

character  of  the  settlers,  26, 

29. 
conditions  under  which  some 
of  them  entered  the  region, 
27,  28. 
wall  to  East  Virginia,  29. 
influence    on    history  of  Vir- 
ginia, 29. 
bore  brunt  in  French-Indian 
war,  47. 
Virginia  Bill  of  Rights,  77ff. 
Virginia   comes    under    immed- 
iate    oversight    of     English 
Government,   11. 
Virginia  Company  of  London,  9. 
11. 


Virginia    Convention  of    1776, 

77. 
Virginia    Gazette,    86. 
Waddell,  Rev.  James,  46,  59,  92, 

98. 
Wallace,  Rev.  Caleb,  61,  69,  85. 
War,    the    French-Indian,    41ff, 

47,  49,  57. 
War,  Revolutionary,  59. 
Warwick,     inhabitants    of     ihe 

county  of,  petition,  98. 
Washington,  Col.  George,  42. 
Whitaker,    Rev.    Alexander,   9, 

10. 
Whitaker,  Dr.  William,   10. 
Whitefield,  31,  46. 
Whitsitt,   William    H.,   82,   85, 

86. 
Williams,  Colonel  James,  76. 
Williams,  Rodger,  79. 
Winchester,  Va.,  26. 
VVinsor,  Justin,  80. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.  John,  61,  62, 

74,  75,   121. 
Wright,  Rev.  John,  42,  44. 
Wythe,  45,  58,  91. 


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